Seeking Freedom
by Raphael Fitchburne
Summary: Naruto becomes tired of everyone in the village. He thinks they are suffocating him like a bird in a cage. He has his reasons. How will his friends react if they learn that he is planning to leave for good?
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

They were there, both lying in bed, staring at the ceiling where the ceiling fan slowly made rotations, continuously. Sakura's pink hair was splayed over the pillow in a sexy way, her hands on her stomach, her nightdress hitched up mid-thigh, revealing a shapely pair of legs. Naruto didn't have a shirt on; his muscular chest and tight stomach rose in rhythm with his breathing. He had his hands behind his head.

"Give me the key, Sakura."

"Why should I? There's no reason."

"I shouldn't have given that to you."

"Not my fault."

Naruto let out a loud sigh. "You're making this a habit and it's annoying me."

"Annoying you? How?"

"I'm not used to sleeping with someone."

"I don't see anything wrong with sleeping with someone."

"I can't sleep when there is someone beside me."

"Come on. Is that why? Sounds childish."

"I can't sleep when there is a_ girl_ beside me." His voice was louder here.

"We're best friends."

"I can't sleep when _you_ are beside me. This will be the last time, Sakura. I'll be changing locks."

Sakura's playful expression soured. "That hurts. It sounds like you hate me so much."

"It's because you're so stubborn. I've told you over and over that I don't like you spending the night here."

"I'm just afraid that you will try to leave me, again."

Naruto let out an exasperated sigh. "That again. I don't know if you're sincere or you're just making excuses. You know the best that I don't have such plans."

"How could I know if you were telling the truth? Everyone can lie."

"You don't trust what I say, but you trust me enough to think that I won't do anything to you while you sleep."

"Oh. That means something's on your mind?"

"Oh, yeah. Lots of things." Naruto's expression was tight. "Especially when you wear such a provoking dress." He ran his left hand over her exposed thigh, waiting with an impassive expression how Sakura would react. Sakura just stared at him. Challenged, he slid his hand higher until he could feel the edge of her underwear. Sakura did not flinch at all as if she was already prepared for this. Knowing now that it was no use, he pulled his hand, sat up, and lit a cigarette. He sucked at the filter and slowly blew white smoke. "Damn it."

"I know you can't do it. You already saw every inch of me so I wouldn't mind if you touch me next."

Naruto shot him a glare. "What kind of reasoning is that? And the hell if I do it with you."

"Bastard. You make it sound like I'm unattractive."

Naruto checked for himself. She had this heart shaped face, those expressive green eyes, those cute pinkish lips, a natural rosy complexion, and that sexy pink hair. In addition, she had grown big in the front and was now taller than before. Who would not be attracted? Imagining things about her was not difficult.

"You've just grown weird," he said.

Sakura turned her back on him. "You should be telling that to yourself," she muttered.

"Don't go muttering weird stuff on me, sis. It's not funny when you do that."

Sakura glared at him. "Stop that 'sis' thing! I told you I didn't want you calling me like that."

"We are like that, officially, right? Comparing it to your midnight invasions, it's mild."

Sakura scowled and suddenly cried, "You…Rape! Someone help me! Rape!"

Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment. He lunged forward. He tried to cover her mouth with his free hand, but she got away and continued her hysterics. Naruto was trapped, his left hand being occupied by the cigarette. He had to stop her before someone accidentally made sense of her ramblings. He swiped her down to the bed with his right arm and kissed her. When he got his bearing, he pulled away and covered her mouth with his right hand.

"Stop it now!" he hissed.

Sakura went on despite of the hand over her mouth.

Naruto reached out to the floor and stubbed his cigarette. When done, he got back to business.

Sakura suddenly bit his right palm.

"Ouch! What the fuck!"

She then bit his left arm.

"Aaah!" He quickly took his arm away from her. "Are you crazy?"

Sakura was breathing hard. "Now you know what I'll do when you irritate me too much."

Naruto looked disgusted. "I don't understand you anymore."

The left shoulder strap of Sakura's night dress had fallen down and it had exposed her left breast, a splendid sight, but Naruto did not care. He inhaled a lungful of air. He reached out and put her dress's strap in place. Turning to his lamp table, he reached for his pack of cigarette, shook one out, and lit it. Sakura was glaring at him.

"You won," Naruto said. "I surrender. Do what you want." He got up, putting his jacket on with one fluid motion.

Sakura began to casually change behind him. She wanted him to look. "Hey."

Irritated, Naruto walked to the door. "Please. If you have something to say, say it downstairs."

Sakura arrived at the kitchen. There was a cup of chocolate on the table. Naruto was sipping coffee, looking out the window. The rice cooker was on and only three minutes remained on the cooking timer.

"Don't you want to cook for yourself once in a while?" Sakura went to the fridge. She gathered some eggs and tomatoes.

"I don't. Sis—"

"Don't call me that."

Naruto gave her a look. "I let you stay here whenever you like. I call you 'sis.'"

"Don't start, Naruto."

"Aren't you unnecessarily making your parents worried?"

"Of what? Me staying here? I even know some parents who would push their daughters to sleep with you." Sakura got the pan and began heating the cooking oil. "Uzumaki Naruto, the Yellow Thunder. They would even jump for joy. Besides, they already know."

"No. You're only making that up."

"Of course, I'm exaggerating, but they really trust you." Sakura sliced the tomatoes into small dices. "They trust you as I trust you. They know that I'm safest when I'm with you."

"Aren't they worried that, you know, something happens?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"There are factors."

"Stop brainwashing me. I've been sleeping on the same bed with you for more than two months. Nothing has happened, yet." Sakura started cooking the tomato omelet. "It even makes me think you're gay."

Naruto sighed. "Sakura, I'm not comfortable with what you're doing."

Sakura shrugged.

"Could you tell me why you are doing this?"

Sakura threw an I-can't-believe-you glare at Naruto.

"We're adults, already. It's not right for a woman to sleep with a man if they're not married."

"When did you start caring about norms and standards?"

"When I realized that I was already twenty and should be acting like a true adult."

"A true adult, huh?" Sakura transferred the omelet onto a plate and put it down on the table. "It's still a long way to go, Naruto. Adulthood doesn't come with age. It comes with time. Come. Let's have breakfast."

Naruto got the rice cooker. He scooped some rice for Sakura, and then for himself. They sat opposite each other. The omelet was delicious, and Naruto couldn't resist another serving that made Sakura smile.

Later, Naruto went to the porch and smoked as he waited for the food to settle. The breeze was refreshing. He enjoyed the warmth of the early sunshine on his skin. The smell of grass mingled with the pleasing fragrance of smoke, making him relax. After accomplishing three consecutive missions, the Hokage had forced him to have a two-day vacation. He had originally planned to use it to have a peaceful time alone with himself when, to his surprise, Sakura also filed for a two-day leave starting on the same day as his vacation.

"Dear," Sakura said, sweetly.

"Stop it."

"Here's tea."

Naruto took a sip. "What do you plan on doing with your vacation?"

"Hang out with you, I guess. I haven't thought of anything, yet." She sat beside Naruto and inhaled the sweet breeze.

"How's work?"

"Nothing much is happening. We only get kids and the elderly these days."

Naruto nodded. For a while, he just watched the blue sky with thin, feathery clouds passing serenely under it. Then, he grabbed Sakura's hand. Sakura let out a gasp. Naruto looked at their entwined hands.

"I never thought that one day I would be able to hold your hand like this. Before, I would even be too nervous to talk to you. Now, you even sleep with me at your own will. Many things have truly changed."

Sakura was trying her best to hide her embarrassment. Naruto's hand was warm and gentle. "Yeah. And you even had the guts to kiss me this morning!"

"I had no choice. Besides, I did not feel anything from it."

"That was my second kiss." Naruto gave the impression that he knew she was lying. Sakura missed it. "You were also my first."

"It was an accident."

"A kiss is a kiss."

"I don't care very much. One thing is clear between us. We're best friends and that's it."

"I know."

Naruto stared at her for a while, and then he stood up. "I'll go now. I have some business to attend to."

"I'll go with you."

"No. You should go home and spend some time with your mom."

Sakura reluctantly agreed.

"So, see you, later."

"Okay."

…

Sakura's mom came running down the stairs when she arrived.

"Are you all right, honey?" Mrs. Haruno asked.

"What's up? Something the matter?"

"Naruto came here last night. He told me that you were staying at his place. He said that you suddenly collapsed."

_That sneaky bastard! _"Naruto came here?"

"Are you all right?"

"Nothing's wrong with me, mom. It was just…I was just a little exhausted." _Geez, Naruto! What did you tell mom?_

Mrs. Haruno sighed in relief. "I was worried. I'm grateful that sweet man came here to tell me where you were."

"Yeah. That guy is really sweet. Later." Sakura started to climb the stairs.

"Sakura, are you sure everything is okay?"

Sakura stopped. "What is it, now?"

"That man…his eyes were quite troubled."

"Did he tell you anything other than what you told me?"

"He said you'd always done that. What did he mean? Are you sleeping with him?"

"It's…it's none of your business, mom." When she tried to continue her climb, her mother grabbed her wrist.

"I know you know that I have a say in this."

"You won't understand."

"I'm prepared for anything. Tell me if your overtimes are_ really_ overtimes."

Sakura couldn't answer.

"I thought so," Mrs. Haruno said. "How long are you intending to keep this from me?"

Sakura did not reply.

"Sakura, this isn't like you. Don't you care about your reputation?"

"Naruto is my best friend. I think I'm not doing something wrong."

"It's not what it seems to me. Whatever relationship you have with him, Naruto remains a man. It's not hard to think of things that could be going on between the two of you."

"He's not that kind of man. Besides, _if_ that was true—that I assure you not—would it matter that much? I mean, he's single, I'm single, and the whole village knows who he is, even you. As he is, he's actually a good catch."

Mrs. Haruno reined herself for a while. When she was sure it could do no harm, she asked, "Do you have feelings for him?"

Something delayed Sakura for a split second. "None, of course! He's like a brother to me. Could we stop this, mom? We're going nowhere."

Mrs. Haruno ignored her. "Tell me your reason, then. Why are you doing this?"

"Okay. Naruto's apartment is near the hospital. I've been recently instructed to stay for a little while. There is shortage of nurses because of the large number of missions that require one nurse per team. Usually, when I'm finally permitted to leave, it's already very late. Our house is too far. Naruto's apartment is only a hundred paces away."

"You could go to the Yamanaka's, instead. Why to his place?"

"I feel more secured with him. He's one of the best, after all."

"It's not the point. You still haven't answered the question. I can list a lot of other alternatives for you if you want." Mrs. Haruno shook her head. "Really, Sakura, I can't understand you. It's more like you are trying to seduce him."

"Mom!"

"I'm sorry. Maybe I haven't recovered yet from the shock of hearing about your collapse. Anyway, if you're going to sleep at his place, let me know. You could send me a message, couldn't you? There are a lot of courier birds available these days, right?"

_Naruto! Look what you've done! _"O-okay."

"Promise?"

"Sure. I promise." Sakura went upstairs.

…

Naruto went to the Konoha Ninja Academy. The business he had to attend to was the meeting for the upcoming Chuunin exam that would take place after two months. The meeting was scheduled in the afternoon, but he came early to get away from Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto!" a man behind him called out.

Naruto turned to see the owner of the voice. "Shikamaru. Good morning."

Shikamaru had a cigarette in his mouth, and his same carefree disposition met Naruto. "Yo! What are you doing here? It's too early for the meeting."

"Just went for a stroll. I ended up here."

"Crap. You are the type of man who won't leave his flat if everything is normal. So, she's at it, again?"

Naruto sighed. "You really do know me, huh."

Shikamaru blew a sigh of smoke. "Really, you two. Care for a smoke down the grounds?"

Naruto went with Shikamaru. They sat under a tree. They had an unimpeded view of the grounds where a bunch of young ninjas did their routine technique training. Shikamaru offered Naruto a cigarette and lit it himself.

"There's a lot of promising kids this year," Shikamaru said.

"That's good to hear. Who are you rooting for?"

"Suzuki and Kuronoha."

"Kuronoha? Sano-san's daughter?"

"Yup. The pretty kid who has a major crush on you. She's top notch in Ninjutsu. The Academy has already let her study A-Rank techniques."

"Impressive. That kid has a bright future."

"She's always asking for you. She wants to know when you will handle a team."

"I don't think I would be doing that sometime soon."

"Yesterday, she went to me and begged me to tell you that she would be celebrating her birthday two weeks from now and she would not wish for anything more if you came."

"When that time comes, tell her that I have a very important mission."

"Come on, man. Don't be like that."

"Sorry. I would've been glad if she didn't have that stupid crush on me."

Shikamaru sighed. "That's why girls avoid you."

Naruto kept quiet.

"Why don't stop being ridiculous and accept Sakura's feelings. She's clearly seducing you," Shikamaru said.

"All that's in my head right now is to be a Sennin. Having a relationship with someone will just slow me down. I want to be stronger until I convince myself that I deserve the title of Hokage. Till then, I'll make sure nothing unnecessary will hold me back."

"You know, I sympathize that having a relationship right now is too troublesome, but sometimes a man that aim high like you needs a woman beside him. A woman could stop you from straying from the right path."

Naruto gave Shikamaru a funny look. "Where did you get that?"

"My father is a pathetic man. Without my mother, he would have been a disaster. My mother keeps his direction toward something with purpose."

"I believe I'm not that pathetic. Having loyal friends is enough to keep me on the right path."

"You can't be sure of that. Sometimes, there are needs that only a woman can satisfy."

"I wonder how you can talk like that. You don't have a girlfriend yourself."

Shikamaru blew some smoke and shrugged.

"Kurenai-sensei is not that old, right?"

Shikamaru choked and repeatedly coughed. "Where are you getting at?"

"Just curious. If I'm not mistaken, she'll be twenty-nine this year, right?"

"So?"

"You're twenty one. Eight-year difference…" Naruto said in a dreamy voice.

Shikamaru said, "Stop it. Kurenai-sensei is already a mother. Moreover, the child's father was Asuma-sensei. Even if I developed some feelings for Kurenai-sensei, it would be disrespectful."

"I don't see anything wrong with that. In fact, I think Asuma-sensei would be happy if you took Kurenai-sensei as your wife."

"That's nonsense."

Naruto shrugged. "That's only my opinion."

Shikamaru stared at Naruto for awhile. Then, he crushed his cigarette on the leg of the bench. "I should be going, now. I have a class schedule, nine AM."

"Okay. Will you be at the meeting?"

"Sure. See you."

"Okay."

…

Naruto stayed for a second stick. He had no other place to go, so he decided to wait a little longer on the bench. As he moved to look up at the beautiful sky, a more beautiful view blocked his vision. It was Ino. She looked serious. Suddenly, she plucked the cigarette from his mouth, dropped it to the ground, and crushed it under her foot.

"I told you, I don't want to see you smoking," she said.

Naruto could smell her sweet fragrance. Was it just the smell of flower sticking on her skin or a high-class perfume from another country? He knew that she should be in the hospital right now. What was she doing here?

Ino came around the bench and sat beside him.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have work?" He said this as casual as he could, but he wouldn't be able to deny his discomfort around her. She was too damn pretty!

"My mother is sick. I'm taking care of her. Father has a job too important to miss so I volunteered to take a vacation in his place."

_Why is everyone taking a vacation and keeps on popping out to pester me? Don't I have some time to be with myself? _"I see."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"Relaxing, I guess."

"Relaxing? Oh, yeah. You are also on vacation."

"That's correct."

Ino leaned on the backrest and looked over at the ninjas practicing on the ground. "The number of students entering the academy has grown five times ever since you defeated that White Fang."

The White Fang had been a group of rebels after the world war ended. Mostly, they had been warriors that didn't have a place to go back to so they decided to conquer other villages to build a nation they could call their own.

"It's not because of that, I think. That statistic only shows that Konoha is growing little by little."

"We are not growing from the inside. We get the numbers from immigrants from other countries. They think with you here, they can have peace."

"You think too highly of me, Ino. Of course, without everyone's help, I couldn't have done it."

"I don't _think_ too highly of you. I only tell what I saw and see."

Naruto looked at Ino, incredulously. _What is this girl trying to do? Does she want to have a date with me? _He stood up, abrupt enough to give the effect that something had suddenly occurred to him. "I just remembered something that I must do. Sorry."

"Huh? Wait! Do you really have to leave?" Ino stood up. "I'm sorry if I said something offensive."

"Of course, you didn't. I'm sorry. To tell you the truth, I'm already late. Sorry."

Ino looked at her feet. Sadness filled her eyes. "You're doing it, again. Why is it that you always avoid me?" she muttered.

"Ino?"

Ino filled her lungs with air and sighed. She forced herself to smile. "It's nothing. Go! It seems important."

"I'm sorry."

Ino widened her smile. God, what a pretty girl! If Naruto could only see. "I'm sorry and thank you for being understanding. I'll make it up to you some other time."

…

The meeting went smoothly. It was all about the tests that they would be conducting in the Chuunin exam. After the meeting, Tsunade called Naruto to report in her office. Tsunade, looking young as usual despite of her age, sat behind her desk full of papers for signature. From the aura coming from her, no one would ever make a mistake that she was the current Hokage.

"An invitation came this morning," Tsunade said. "The Capital City is inviting Class SS Jonins all over the world for a twelve-year Technique Specialization Training. Once you complete this, you will be promoted to Sennin, immediately. Are you interested?"

Naruto clapped his hands. "Of course, I'm interested! How will I register for it?"

"You seem pretty excited. Are you sure? You'll be gone for twelve years."

"This is a big opportunity! I'm sure my friends are excited as well."

"Everyone refused the invitation."

Naruto hung his mouth open. "What?"

"Yes. Among the Jonins here of your level, no one has accepted this invitation."

"But why? What's the matter with them?"

Tsunade frowned. "You can be a Sennin eventually even without joining this training. Duration-wise, this is unreasonable. I'm the one wondering about your misplaced enthusiasm."

"Wait. Sasuke. What about Sasuke? I'm sure—"

"Sasuke-kun refused. Besides, even if he accepted, he could not leave Konoha for more than ten years. He had been a criminal."

"I almost forgot," he said, weakly. Questions came rushing into him. _What's wrong, guys? What are you afraid of? Why don't any of you realize that this is a one in a million chance?_

"So, what's your decision?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto looked up with flaming determination in his eyes. Tsunade immediately felt anxiety from that. "I'm decided. I'll go."

Tsunade accidentally crumpled the side of the invitation letter. She grimly looked at Naruto. "Are you sure? Naruto, you'll be gone for twelve years. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, I fully understand."

Tsunade moved her eyes toward the letter in her hand. She shook her head. "I can't understand you," she mumbled.

"Master Tsunade, please tell me how I can register for the training."

"Y-yes. First, I must tell the Capital City that you are interested and ask for the requirements. After I receive their response, I'll summon you."

Once he was out of his office, Naruto couldn't help but shout for joy. Tsunade heard this and his voice felt like an arrow piercing through her heart. As far as she was concerned, she would rather not allow Naruto to leave the village. It was too dangerous for the village's ace to go alone outside even if the Capital City was trustworthy enough in terms of security. Because of Naruto's popularity, many enemies had emerged to eliminate him. Tsunade treated Naruto as her son. If anything happened to him, she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

"You called for me?" Shizune, Tsunade's ever-loyal assistant, asked.

"Yes. I want you to do something for me." Tsunade told Shizune what was on her mind.

"What?" Shizune was flabbergasted. "What do you mean do it with him? Are you serious?"

"Of course, I'm serious!"

"I can't believe you see me like a prostitute." Shizune was about to cry.

"Shizune, you're the only one I can count on."

"Would you tell me why should I do this?"

"The invitation. Naruto is taking it."

"What's wrong with that?"

"He'll be gone for twelve years. Do you understand what that means?"

"It's the required duration. We can't do anything about that."

"Shizune, you know how famous Naruto is right now. There are many groups that want him dead."

Shizune couldn't help but sob. "But what does it have to do with me? Please, let me out of this, Master." She was crying now.

"Shizune!" Shizune flinched. "I don't remember apprenticing a cry-baby!"

"But you're talking about something very important to me! I haven't done it with anyone, yet. Please, not me, please!"

"Is Naruto that disgusting you're actually crying just from the idea?"

"It's not that. I've preserved myself for a long time because I want to do it with someone I love."

"Be reasonable—"

"You tell that to yourself!" Shizune stomped out of the office.

"Wait, Shizune!"

All that Tsunade could do was clench her jaws. She couldn't blame Shizune. It was really a ridiculous request.

…

Shizune ran hastily down the corridor. Because she was crying, she did not notice that she was about to bump into someone. She hit the person's chest and was thrown backwards. Losing her balance, she dropped on her butt. She knew she had bumped into a man.

"Shizune-san?" Naruto asked. He hurriedly ran to help her. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you."

Shizune glared at him. "Don't touch me!"

Naruto stopped. "I was just trying to help."

Shizune tried to stand up. "Go away!"

Naruto was beginning to find her reaction funny. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Aaaarg!" Shizune pushed back Naruto and briskly walked away.

Naruto snapped. "What the fuck is wrong with you, for fucking hell's sake!" He couldn't control himself no more. His frustration on Sakura surged forward like a barracuda going for a chunk of meat on the water's surface. "Fuck you!"

Shizune abruptly marched back toward him. "What did you say?" Her eyes were burning with rage. Her tears were flowing like lava from an erupting volcano. "What the fuck did you say?"

A vein throbbed relentlessly on Naruto's temple. His eyes were filled with confusion, frustration, and anger. "I said fuck you." He had spoken this with clear intensity.

Shizune slapped him, but he did not even flinch a millimeter. She slapped him again, but got the same reaction. "You got a gigantic head now because you believe you're the strongest? Who the fuck do you think you are!"

Naruto's glare never left hers. "Tell me what I did wrong."

"You don't know? You're selfish. Do you understand? You're a fucking selfish person."

"What did I do to deserve those words?"

She opened her mouth but shut it close, abruptly.

The intensity in his eyes was making her weak. The sincerity and transparency of his gaze began to dissolve her resolve. She could clearly see the mix of emotion happening inside him. Never in her life had she felt something like what was currently happening in her. Never in her life had she met someone so honest and pure. There was no mask. Right now, Naruto was like a river where you could still see the riverbed despite of the water's turbulent flow.

She could not answer Naruto's question. He had not done anything wrong. Finally, she broke her stare-off against him and buried her face in his chest. "I'm sorry." She gently put her arms around him, still crying. She could hear his heartbeat, and it was wild.

After a few seconds, Naruto exhaled loudly.

"I'm sorry," Shizune said. She still had her head in his chest so the sound came out muffled.

"Come on. Let's go get something to drink."

Naruto held her hand and led the way to the vending machine. Naruto got two warm coffee-in-cans from the machine, giving one to Shizune. She sat on the bench beside the machine, while Naruto stood across her. When asked, Shizune told Naruto everything. Naruto was surprised to hear the true story behind their little squabble.

"That old woman, geez," Naruto said. "I did not expect something like that coming from her. Talk about selfish." He got his pack of cigarettes and shook one out. "Do you mind?"

"No. Go ahead."

Naruto lit himself a cigarette. "I'm sorry I said all of that stuff."

"I should be the one apologizing."

"No. Really. I lost myself back there. I acted without even thinking about your reason."

She laughed. "If somebody suddenly did that to me, I would have done what you did. No. I might have done something more severe."

Naruto sipped from his can. "I'm sorry, again, Shizune."

"Stop apologizing. It's making me feel guilty."

"I wanted you to feel like that." Naruto told this with a straight face.

Shizune frowned at him. She waited for him to take that back. He did not. She glared at him. "You're totally rotten!" she hissed.

Naruto laughed hard. "Kidding! I'm just kidding!"

"Geez, this man!"

Naruto just went on laughing at her. Gradually, she smiled, taken by the contagious laughter he was making.

"Don't worry. I'm never going to make you do something you don't want to do. I respect what you believe in."

"Thank you."

Naruto was about to take a sip out from his cigarette when she suddenly plucked it from his fingers and had a drag from it herself. She blew out the smoke, smoothly.

"I used to smoke before."

"The way you blew that out, you seem to smoke even now."

Shizune put out her tongue. "Occasionally."

Naruto did not notice that, but Shizune had deliberately made an indirect kiss with him.

"This oddly tastes like lemon," Shizune said.

"Lemon?"

…

That afternoon, Mrs. Haruno never thought something unexpected to happen. She caught Sakura carrying a large bag.

"What's that?"

"My things."

"I know it's your things. Where are you going?"

"I've decided to live with Naruto."

"What? No. No! No way in hell I will let you do that!"

"Come on, Mom! I'm already an adult! I can already take care of myself. Don't worry 'cause Naruto's harmless."

"It's not that he's harmless or not. What will I tell your father?"

"I'll tell him myself when he gets back."

Mrs. Haruno massaged her temples. "I'm getting a headache."

Seeing a chance, Sakura tried to sneak out.

"Stop!" Mrs. Haruno ordered. "You are not allowed to make another step."

Sakura ignored her.

"Sakura!"

Now that stopped her. Mrs. Haruno's voice was full of anger and contempt.

"Sit down!"

"Mom…"

"Sit down, now!"

Sakura reluctantly sat down.

"Sakura, what is this? What are you trying to do?"

"Don't be so paranoid, Mom. Come on. I'm not going to do something that would bring shame to our family. I'm merely going there to board."

"No! No! I will not allow that."

"Mom! Please!"

"Sakura, if you keep insisting on that, I will request your resignation from the hospital!"

"Hey, that's not fair! Mom, come on! I'm a grown up, now!"

"Then act like one! An adult doesn't act out of selfishness. Think about the people around you, too! Now, carry your bag to your room!"

"Stop treating me like a child, mom!"

"Carry your bag to your room! Don't let me repeat it a third time, Sakura."

"Shit!" Sakura hissed. She snatched her bag from the floor and went up, angrily.

Still holding her temples, Mrs. Haruno slumped on a chair.

…

Naruto went up to the temple to watch the sunset. He was smoking beside a large statue of a lion as his eyes savored the reddish light of dusk. As he flicked the ash away from the ember, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He looked up and saw a pale, handsome, raven-haired man.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke sat beside him. He was carrying a bottle of sake and two small wine cups. "Care for a drink?" He gave Naruto a cup and poured it with wine.

Naruto took it from him. "Sure." He drank it. The warmth of the drink climbed down his throat before exploding inside his stomach. The feeling was great. "Delicious."

Sasuke drank his wine. "So, why did you pay a visit?"

"Day-off."

"Oh, you actually accepted a day-off." Sasuke put out his tobacco pipe, put some ground tobacco leaves in its mouth and lit it. He puffed some smoke.

"You should quit the pipe and go for the stick," Naruto said.

"I prefer to prepare the leaves myself."

"Your taste." He shrugged. "How is it going with you?"

"Nothing short of ordinary. Anyway, I'm fine."

"That's good." Sasuke poured him another shot. He drank it.

…

Sasuke and Naruto had already finished six bottles and a slight slur was now audible in their speech. They had put their cups aside and were currently drinking directly from the bottles.

"Say, Sasuke, do you find Sakura attractive?"

"Sakura? I think she is. Why did you ask?"

"It just occurred to me. I thought that Sakura and you would look good if you two became a couple."

"Why don't you court her yourself?"

"Are you crazy? You're the one she likes!"

"Drink up, pussy! Sake will wash that illusion away!"

"Illusion? What is your proof? Ever since then, she's only loved one man. Unfortunately, that man is presently my drinking buddy!"

"Eh? Why haven't I felt loved by that woman, then?"

"You're just dense, man! Dense like a rock!"

"Then, you're dumb like a dead fingernail!"

They looked at each other and foolishly laughed.

Naruto took a swallow and stared at the distance. "Sakura has been quite a pest these past months," Naruto said.

"Oh. The one who actually loves her speaks ill of her."

"Nah. She was just a childhood crush. But, seriously, man. She's been acting strange. She's not like the Sakura I once knew."

"Hmmm…What could be the matter?"

Naruto gave Sasuke a look. "Don't you think you already know?"

"Hey, hey, are you trying to blame me?"

"She began acting like that after our last mission together. And I hate it."

"What particularly is she doing to you?"

"She's trying to seduce me."

Sasuke was surprised at first, but he laughed, eventually. "Sakura? Sakura _is_ seducing you? Are you sure you're not imagining things?"

"Only an imbecile won't notice it."

Sasuke became serious. "Really. Hey, aren't you supposed to be happy she's doing that?"

Naruto drank from his bottle. "I don't appreciate feelings that root from disappointment or pity. I'm not that kind of guy."

Sasuke changed the subject. "Enough, enough. I understand your frustrations. But a day when we can drink freely only comes occasionally. Forget your problems and drink!"

Naruto succumbed to Sasuke's persuasion. Eventually, Naruto fell asleep. Sasuke brought Naruto inside the temple where he had already prepared a futon for his friend. After making sure that Naruto lay comfortably, Sasuke went out.

…

"Sakura, come down, now. Dinner's ready." Mrs. Haruno was outside Sakura's room. "Sakura?" She got suspicious. Was her daughter sleeping? "I'm coming in, okay?" She opened the door. Sakura was not inside. She only found Sakura's bag on the bed. The open window caught her attention. "Sakura! Are you there?" She peeked out the window to see if Sakura was just getting some fresh air on the roof. No Sakura. She went to search the bathroom and the closet. Sakura wasn't in both. Now, she understood. She looked at the open window. "That little…Sakura!"

…

Sakura walked down the dim streets with a small bag in her hand. She was deep in thoughts.

"Good evening, Sakura."

She was startled. She looked up. "Sasuke-kun..."

"I want to talk to you."

"What is it? Don't tell me Mom—"

"Come with me." Sasuke turned around and began to leave.

"No. It's all right here. Let's talk here."

Sasuke looked at her. When he realized that she would not move from where she was, he stepped towards her.

Sakura couldn't look him in the eyes. "What is it that you want to talk about?"

Sasuke inhaled and exhaled out his mouth. "It's about us."

"What about us?"

"Sakura, is it true that you still have some feelings for me?"

"No," Sakura told him without hesitation.

"Look at me."

Sakura looked into his eyes. "I don't have any feelings for you, anymore."

"Are you sure?" Sasuke moved a step forward.

Sakura did not move. "Yes."

Sasuke pushed her to the concrete fence. "Don't lie to me."

Sakura set her jaws and told him again. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Why now, Sakura? Why now when I've finally learned to love you?"

Sakura suppressed a gasp. "W-what are you trying to say?"

"I love you, Sakura."

"What?"

"I love you."

Sasuke kissed her. Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. Right now, the man that had filled her dreams before was telling her he loved her and kissing her. She waited for something. However, the heat on Sasuke's lips remained on his lips. It did not flow into her lips. She too did not feel weak anywhere, a sign that her body was not affected by what he was doing.

Sasuke became aggressive. He let his hands explore the front of her body. He squeezed one of her breasts while trying to intrude her mouth with his tongue. She remained immobile. When Sasuke opened his eyes to look at her reaction, he was surprised to see that she was looking away. He immediately stopped. He stepped away from her. He smiled.

"So, it's true," he said.

Sakura fixed herself up. "Is that all you want to know?"

"I thought I might still have a chance."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble."

Sasuke locked his gaze on her. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Sakura stared back with the same intensity. "Naruto."

"Naruto? You're in love with Naruto? Are you kidding me?"

"I'm not kidding anybody."

"Are you serious?" Sasuke laughed, derisively, shaking his head.

Sakura slapped him. "If you don't have any more questions, you can leave."

Sasuke put up a challenging face. He rubbed the burning patch of skin of his left cheek. "I'll stay as long as I want—"

Sakura began to leave.

"Hey, wait! Okay, okay! I've gone too far. I'm sorry," Sasuke said. Sakura ignored him, so he held her wrist.

Sakura harshly pulled her wrist away. "What?"

Sasuke raised his hands as if giving up. "Whoa, there! I'm sorry, okay."

"What the fuck do you want?" She suddenly realized something. "Was it Naruto? He asked you to do this, didn't he?"

"Calm down. Let me explain."

"Where is he?" Sakura did not wait for a reply and began to march past Sasuke. "That bastard!"

Sasuke held her in the shoulders, gently stopping her from going further. "Stop it. He's at my place. He got drunk and now fast asleep. Will you calm down?"

Sakura swiped his arms away. She glowered at him.

"I'm so sorry. I did this on my own. I just wanted to confirm something."

"That's how you _confirm_ something? By sexually assaulting me?"

"I couldn't have gotten any result through normal means knowing how cunning you are. I'm sorry. I know I offended you. Please forgive me."

Sakura grunted in irritation. Was Sasuke this bold before? How much did he change? "I don't want to waste too much time in here."

"Okay." Sasuke licked his lips. "I had a conversation with Naruto. He told me what is happening between you two. Honestly, I was surprised. Sakura, are you really trying to seduce him?"

The question caught Sakura off-guard. It was difficult, but she composed herself.

"I don't think you have the right to meddle in our business."

"He told me he hated it."

She clenched her jaws, telling herself not to cry. However, the disbelief in her eyes betrayed her emotion. "He told you that?" she muttered.

"Sakura, why don't you just tell him?"

"If it was as easy as you say, do you think I would keep on doing this?"

"If you really love him, you can tell him face to face."

"He will not believe me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I already told him twice in the past. The first time was when I tried to stop him from chasing after you. The second time was when I tried to stop him from leaving the village. Now, tell me. What will he think if I confess to him the third time? Will he believe me? It's clear, right? He will think that I'm just doing it with a hidden purpose like before. You know, I think this is a punishment for a conceited girl like me. I thought that there was no way in hell I would ever fall for him. I did not expect things to be like this. Why should things have to change? It would have been easier—much easier—if things remained as they were. If the one I loved was still you. I never thought that one day that idiot whose feelings I always ignored and took for granted would make me feel desperately in love like this. It's so funny and pathetic it makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time."

"So what will you do? The way things are going, he might end up hating you for real."

"I don't care. I just have to endure everything. I'll wait no matter how long until he understands how I feel."

Sasuke closed his eyes as if to endure a pang in his heart. "Sakura, tell me, honestly. Do you think Naruto still has feelings for you?"

Sakura looked at the ground.

"Naruto told me that he didn't appreciate feelings that came from disappointment or pity. Okay. Let's say that he accepted your feelings for him. Will you be happy if you learn that he accepted them out of pity?" He waited for a response. When none came, he said, "Sakura, as a friend, I don't want any of you to be hurt. Earlier, the impression that Naruto gave me was—" Sasuke looked into her eyes, "—he doesn't have any feelings for you, anymore."

Sakura suddenly recalled things that she would rather keep obscured: Naruto's cold stares, his exasperated sighs, his bored expressions, his irritated voice… "I let you stay here whenever you like. I call you 'sis.' "We're best friends and that's it." She couldn't stop her tears from falling.

"He loved me. I felt it. I saw it in his eyes," she said.

"Sakura—"

"I understand what you're trying to say. You can leave, now."

Sasuke inhaled as if the air suddenly forced itself into his nose. "I understand." Sasuke walked away.

Sakura couldn't take the pain, anymore. She struggled for breath as the involuntary gasps brought about by the erratic beating of the heart when some painful emotion is trying to eat it came. She clutched her heart as the pain began to spread on her chest. She backed off to the fence and slid down on it until her butt reached the ground. She cried and cried, the kind of crying someone does when a love one has passed on.

Nearby, Ino also cried. She had overheard the conversation and was now filled with compassion for her friend.

…

A little while later, Mrs. Haruno found her daughter. Sakura was still sitting at that fence, face buried in her arms. Seeing how fragile her daughter was, Mrs. Haruno forgot about her anger.

Mrs. Haruno hunkered in front of Sakura. She reached out and tucked her daughter's stray strands of hair behind her ears. "Honey, let's go back. You'll get a cold here."

Sakura slowly got up. When Mrs. Haruno saw her, she felt her pain. She almost cried if she did not tell herself to be strong for her daughter.

"Sorry, mom," Sakura muttered.

Mrs. Haruno stood in front of Sakura, forcing a smile while using her thumbs to wipe her daughter's tears away. It would have been easier to cry. That was the first time she had seen her daughter so devastated.

"Look at you," Mrs. Haruno said. "You look like a mess."

Sakura embraced her mother. "Mom…mom…"

Mrs. Haruno stroked Sakura's hair. "Yes, honey. I'm here. I'm always here for you."

When they were back at the house, Sakura told her mother everything.

…

It had been three days ever since Sakura stopped coming to sleep over at his place. Naruto was rather relieved than troubled for the sudden change of situation. For three days, he had been able to sleep peacefully resulting in a more relaxed disposition.

Now, as he walked down the busy street of the shopping district of Konoha, he wondered what he should do. There was no available mission, yet. _I wished I accepted a team. Sigh. So boring. _Across the street, at a vegetable stand, he saw Ino selecting vegetables. He brightened up.

"Hey, Ino!" he called out, waving a hand.

Ino glanced at him, then, as if seeing no one, looked back at the vegetables.

Naruto's smile faded into a confused frown. He stood by her side. "Hello!"

Ino ignored him. "How much for the radish?"

The vendor seemed uncomfortable with the ongoing scene. "Fifty Ryu a kilogram for you, Yamanaka-san."

"Give me a half. And onions as well."

Naruto found Ino's attitude weird. "Hey, Ino! Hello! Naruto? Do you remember me? Have you hit your head on something?"

"Haha. Very funny." Ino was sarcastic.

Naruto remembered their last encounter. "Is this about the last time we saw each other? I'm sorry. I really had something urgent to do that day."

"Would you please not talk to me anymore?"

Naruto blanched. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Here you are, Yamanaka-san," the vendor said, handing over her purchase.

Ino rummaged for her purse.

"I'll pay it, Gonzo-san," Naruto said.

Ino found her purse and hastily handed the vendor a hundred Ryu. "Keep the change." She grabbed the paper bags and walked hurriedly.

Naruto chased her. "Hey, what's wrong? Let me help you with those."

"Go away!"

"Here, let me carry one." He reached out and attempted to take hold of one paper bag.

Ino kicked his leg. She glared at him. "Go away! My mother doesn't want me to associate with people with bad vices!" She turned into a corner.

Naruto rubbed his knee as he watched Ino disappear from his sight. Her reaction had completely taken him aback.

That afternoon, Naruto went to Ino's house. When he was there, he thought of backing out, but, deciding that he was not doing anything wrong, he knocked at the door. No one answered on his first knock. He did not persist. He stood there and waited, trying to organize his thoughts. When no one came after five minutes, he knocked once more. Ino opened the door. Seeing him, Ino recoiled as if he was a cockroach.

"Why are you here?" she said.

"I just want to clear some things with you."

"We can do it when I get back to work. I'm busy."

"Please. It's not about a mission." He showed her his most irresistible puppy eyes. "Do you have even a couple of minutes?"

Ino suppressed with utmost difficulty not to grin. His expression was melting her pretense. She sighed. "Okay. But only for a few minutes. I still have a lot of chores to do. My mother is still sick."

Naruto followed Ino to a cozy receiving area. She made tea for them. She also had the time and hospitality to slice him a cinnamon cake. Only for a few minutes, she had said, but her actions were like telling him to stay a while. She sat across him.

"So?" she said.

Naruto took a sip from his teacup. "This is delicious. Are you sure this is not instant?"

"Get to the point."

"This is the point."

"What?"

"You're being difficult with me." He put down the cup and put a mouthful of cinnamon cake into his mouth.

"Oh, yeah, I'm being difficult with Naruto-kun," she said, sarcastically. "I invited him in, I prepared tea and cake for him, but I'm being difficult."

"Did I do something wrong to you? Have I offended you in some way? Honestly, I don't think I've done something to deserve such attitude from you."

"I also have friends. Don't assume that I wouldn't be affected if you did something to them."

"So you're doing this for a friend. Who, Sakura?"

"Yes. Sakura."

"So you _think_ that I did something to her."

Ino snorted. "Didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. I told her to stop sleeping with me because I needed my privacy. I told her that she was acting like a child. I told her that she was making her parents worry unnecessarily for her. Is that wrong?"

"I know you know what she is trying to say to you."

"Yes. I'm not that dumb. She is seducing me."

Ino stood up and shouted, "She loves you!"

"Ino? Is anything wrong?" her mother called out from the other room.

"Nothing mother. I'm sorry." She turned back to Naruto and lowered her voice. "Don't you see that she loves you?"

Naruto laughed, cynically. He shook his head. "Love me? Do you think I haven't considered that possibility, yet? No, Ino. She just wants to make someone jealous."

"Sakura is not that kind of person."

"Well, believe it or not, she is."

"She doesn't love Sasuke, anymore."

"You expect me to believe that?"

"I'm telling you the truth. Sakura loves you."

Naruto observed her face. He shook his head. He stood up. "Okay, fine. If you want to be like that with me for the rest of your life, I don't care. Stick with your whore friend—"

She slapped him. "You have really changed. You are not the same Naruto I admired a long time ago. You're making me sick."

"Tell that to your friend!" he hissed. "I'm tired of being manipulated and used for the pleasure of others. I've had enough of everyone taking me for granted."

That ended it. Naruto walked out on her.

…

At the park, Naruto smoked furiously. His hands were shaking so much it was hard for him to get the filter of his cigarette into his mouth. He was distracted. The conversation he had had with Ino stirred memories he had already stowed in the back of his mind. It came back with a vengeance, automatically filling his eyes with uncalled for tears. He covered his eyes with one shaking hand. He tried hard to steer away his mind from the heartbreaking recollection that was rushing out like water from a punctured tank. However, he could not.

It had been on a night during their surveillance mission at the Valley of Bones in the outskirts of the Country of Sound where rumors about sightings of Kabuto had come from. He was walking back to their encampment after he had gone to spy on Kabuto's suspected hideout, a large cave deep in the forest. He was the one scheduled to spy that day. A few yards from their tents, he heard voices. The sound mingled with the chirps of cicadas and the rustle of leaves. He stopped and instinctively ducked behind a tree. He could not be mistaken. What he was hearing were whimpers and moans. Instantly, a horrible thought occurred to him. He hesitantly peeked from the tree to confirm his suspicion. He froze at what he saw. Out there, beside the red tent, masked with the impending darkness that would eat the surrounding when the sun had set, were two entwined figures, writhing like snakes on the ground. Sasuke and Sakura. Abruptly, he turned around and leaned his sinking shoulders on the trunk of the tree. His stomach pushed something up his throat and he suppressed the urge to retch. He covered his mouth as if his precious life would go out from there anytime. He willed himself not to breathe. His nose ran. He could hear the throbbing of his heart behind his ears. His eyes stung as if being incised by a razor. Shaking, he tried to stand up and get away from there. Fast. He didn't notice the streams of tears on his face. Drops converged and dripped from his chin. He succeeded on reaching the bank of the river. His vision was whirling and he couldn't make out anything in his surroundings. Both hands cupped in his mouth now, he bawled. Some heads of animals perked up to look in his direction. He cried like a child, trying desperately to contain his howls in his hands.

After a while, he sat there, dangling his bare feet in the cold water of the river, looking at the half moon. He had recovered himself. That scene had broken his heart and he knew that he would never forget that day. It would be a reminder that he would never make her love him no matter what he did. He loved Sakura, yes, but the thought that she could be so bold with her feelings for Sasuke, forgetting that he was with them, that they were on a mission, that he _could _arrive on them doing what they had been doing made him despise her. Her indiscretion was like telling the world that he was a good friend and he would understand completely and would have the decency to look away or busy himself with something while they finished, a proof that his feelings didn't matter to her that much. He sighed. What was he expecting?

On the other hand, no matter how painful it was, Sakura had answered the question he had been itching to ask. It was also timely. It was because he was beginning to hope that he had a chance. He was not that dense not to feel that she had been making passes at him these past months: the meaningful glances, the insinuating talks, the pinches on his butt. He was grateful it didn't come when he had already hoped _too_ much. At least, she had spared him of a few degrees of pain. Now he was feeling both betrayed and relieved, but more of relieved. He had to accept it as it was. She made her choice. She picked Sasuke. He had known for a long time, anyway. Only, he didn't know if he would forgive her for being so inconsiderate of him. If, at least, they had done it in a private place where he could not have seen them, he might have been able to swallow it more easily. But what's done is done. He was too late to wish for better deliverance. He made his decision. Sakura was only a friend and she would be forever.

In the following morning, Sasuke was gone.

"Where is he?" he asked.

She put on a miffed expression that he thought sincere enough. "He's gone searching for you! Where have you been?"

"I just stayed for a while. I got a feeling that they would show up. They didn't."

"Why didn't you tell us first? Is it hard to return here, report what you saw, and tell us that you have this intuition so you're planning on returning there to observe a little more?"

Naruto stared at her hard. He was searching for guilt to surface on her face. Why was she talking as if nothing had happened? He frowned. Was Sakura this thick-faced?

"I'm sorry," he said. "I haven't had any sleep. I think I'll have a nap."

She grabbed his collar. "Before that, you eat first."

As best as he could, he tried to suppress the dark feeling in his chest, but it persisted. He harshly parried her hand away and threw her a baleful look that made her wince. He marched to his tent, the blue one, and collapsed on his futon.

Sasuke arrived in the evening. He had done his spying duty while searching for him at the same time. Sasuke seemed relieved to see him and, like Sakura, he sensed that Sasuke, too, didn't remember anything that had happened the night before. Suddenly, he knew the answer. He was sure that one way or another they had realized that someone had witnessed their imprudence and used a Mind Technique to manipulate their memories. It was not easy to feign ignorance on matters like that. Small signs would show on their faces—averting eyes, small gasps of breath, slight blush on the cheek, unconscious stammer—however hard they tried to hide it. On their level, all of them knew a variety of Mind Techniques to perform such procedure. Using one of the Mind Techniques was the only way to attain that casual indifference.

But why did they need to hide their affair? Were they ashamed to him? Whatever their reason, he was glad they had chosen to forget. He thought that it would be best for them to forget the incident.

After that mission, Naruto didn't talk with either Sasuke or Sakura for two weeks. Then Sakura began sleeping with him, exasperatingly invading his privacy.

…

Naruto went back to his apartment and considered what to do next. The fury he had felt and dismissed on that fateful night gnawed inside him now. He thought of reminding Sakura about the incident. Their professors had taught them that all Mind Techniques for manipulation of memories had one pattern. One could make another recall manipulated memories if he or she said or did things that were associative and could possibly trigger the "dead" memories back to life. If he told her what had happened, she would definitely remember. But was that the right thing to do? No. He would let it be. If they had decided to forget about it, they had their reasons. Maybe they were not prepared, yet. Or they felt guilty doing it during a mission. Besides, it would only make him look desperate.

But why was Sakura trying to seduce _him_? Wasn't it Sasuke that she should be seducing? He didn't see any reason why they would choose to manipulate even the feelings they had for each other, if that was the case. It was also unlikely that they would have committed a mistake in the process and had accidentally erased those feelings. They were top-ranked Ninjas, for goodness' sake. And Sasuke, too. Why had he reacted as if he couldn't believe that Sakura loved him? He had even said that he didn't feel loved by Sakura. Was what he had witnessed an illusion then? Genjutsu? Materialization of his fears?

He gave up. He couldn't fool himself that everything he had witnessed in that forest was just an illusion. An illusion would never break him that ruthlessly. He should stick to his original conclusion that Sakura was just trying to have Sasuke's attention. Maybe Sasuke had grown cold towards her and she was desperately trying to get him back by using him to make him jealous. That would explain why Sasuke had been trying to avoid the subject the last time they met. Maybe they had had a fight.

Anyway, it didn't matter. The point was he felt abused, mistreated. The village always went Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. Naruto I have a favor to ask. Naruto can you help me. Naruto would you go and assassinate this person. Naruto this, Naruto that. Even for questions like "Whose fault is that?" it would be Naruto. In the past years, they had been grateful. Now, they only took him for granted.

Because he had been so nice to everyone, he forgot himself. In time, he had unconsciously done what they wanted. He spoiled them so look at him now. Nobody would even listen to him. He was reduced into a tool, a weapon, a dummy-friend. Sakura still believed that she could sleep with him anytime she wanted even after he had bluntly stated his discomfort. Tsunade didn't want him to take the invitation for the specialization training even though he told him that he _really_ was aching to take it. Shizune had yelled into his face that he was selfish without something as polite as asking why first. Ino didn't want to listen to his explanations because Sakura _was_ a friend. Was he not a friend? He was losing his freedom. It was not like this before. He felt that his right to run his own life had been taken from him. If he stayed in Konoha…

If he stayed! He bolted up from his bed. He knew now what to do. This was the best solution to his problem. He had already brought back Sasuke. Konoha was at peace. There was only one promise that he hadn't fulfilled, yet: being the Hokage. But, he had every opportunity to be a Kage in another village. He just needed to be strong enough to prove himself capable for the title. That was it. He would take hold of the wheel again.

…

Naruto marched into Tsunade's office with a request letter. He slammed it down in front of the young-looking old woman. "Please, sign this, Tsunade-baachan."

She read the letter and was shocked. "You're going to the Capital City?"

"Yes."

"No. I'm not gonna sign anything like this."

"There are no laws that you can press against me for wanting to study abroad."

Tsunade stood up. "This is not a request to study abroad. This is a request to migrate! What is wrong with you?"

"I had enough of this village! I'm already twenty years old. I'm now entitled to choose my permanent citizenship."

Tsunade was about to cry. "What did we do wrong to you?"

"If you don't sign it," Naruto said with conviction, "I'll write a complaint to the International Citizenship Society against Konoha. I mean it."

Tsunade was horrified. "What?"

"Please, sign it, Hokage-_sama._ I know you don't want to shatter the brittle peace our little village is enjoying right now by inviting criticism from such a powerful organization. Not to mention what the immigrants here will think after news about this reaches them."

"What's going on? Why do you want to leave the village so much?"

Naruto considered for a few seconds. "It's none of your business, Tsunade-baachan."

"What do you find unsatisfactory in here? Your salary, your assignments, your shelter? I can do something about that."

"It's the people." Naruto looked into her eyes. "Yes. Including you. Do you think I'm ignorant of the fact that you are doing everything to stop me from taking the Technique Specialization Training? You even tried to use Shizune-san to do that. I'm tired of people like you who believe that you can always manipulate me to do what you want. I need a new atmosphere. I will never have peace in here."

"I only did that because I'm worried about you."

"_I _have already defeated you in battle. _I _defeated Sasuke. _I_ defeated Kakashi-sensei. Do you think I will let anyone to harm me just like that? Don't treat me like a kid!"

Tsunade sat back. She closed her eyes and did not make a move for a long time. Then she sighed. It was obvious that she was trying hard not to cry. Naruto found pleasure in that without reason. She reached for her fountain pen, posed her hand over the request letter, and let it hang for a moment there. Sighing, she signed the paper. She handed it back to Naruto without looking at him.

"Thank you," Naruto said. "I'll never forget this."

"I have a lot of things to do. You can go now."

"I'm sorry for disturbing you." Naruto had a sickening smile on his face.

"Go to the Konoha Council and sign your Temporary Citizenship Certificate. It will severe your ties to Konoha. Forever. Just keep in mind that after that, you will not be allowed to enter Konoha without a Citizenship Certificate from the country of your choosing."

"Don't worry. I'll never come back."

She felt like her heart had stopped beating. When Naruto was out of the office, she cried in her hands. That was the first feminine gesture she had ever done in her life.

Naruto stood in front of the two old Councilors. They sat in high chairs, looking down at him. They were women, identical twins the village fondly called the "Twin Towers."

"Are you really sure about this, Uzumaki-san?" Yue, the one at the right, said.

"Yes. I'm already decided."

"It will take at least two weeks before we complete the Records and Documents for Legitimate Migration for you. Please be patient and treat this conversation classified," said Nue, sitting at the left.

"I will."

"Are you sure only the Hokage knows you are severing your ties with Konoha," Yue said.

"Yes."

"Please keep it a secret from anyone else," said Nue.

"I will. But how about if somebody leaks this out?"

"It will not be your responsibility. It is not a law. We just don't like somebody trying to change your mind when the processing of your papers starts. There is a large penalty and a year of imprisonment when you renege."

"I never go back on my words."

"I'm curious. Why do you want to leave?" Yue said.

"Do your job. Don't ask questions," Naruto said, smugly. He turned and left the room.

…

A courier hawk flew down and perched on the window of Naruto's bedroom. It was eight in the morning. Naruto turned his head towards it like an owl. He was sitting on the edge of his bed. He hadn't had any sleep. Naruto approached the bird as it wiped its beak on the feather of its breast. He plucked the small scroll from its foot and read. "A class-S mission came. I'm assigning you for the job. Report at ten. Hokage's office." Naruto smirked. He put the scroll back into the container on the bird's foot. Recognizing the gesture, the hawk flapped its wings and flew away. He glanced back at the forehead protector on his lamp table, glistening under the morning sun. He went to it and put it in his pocket. He pulled the drawer under the lamp table. A parchment and pen were inside. He straightened the parchment on the table's surface and started to write. _Resignation Letter._

At ten, he arrived at the Hokage's office. Sakura and Hinata were already there. Tsunade and the girls were waiting for him. She saw him and said, "There you are. Come and let's start the briefing."

"I'm sorry but, starting today, I'm not a shinobi of Konoha anymore," Naruto said.

Hinata jerked her head towards him. Sakura remained silent. Naruto placed the forehead protector down on Tsunade's desk.

"Please pick someone else," he said.

"It's up to me if you stay or leave."

"I'm sorry but I'm not doing it."

"You're doing it. You have no choice."

"Leave him alone," Sakura said. "I don't want to work with someone who has been forced into the job."

"Hear that?" Naruto said.

"No one tells me what to do." She held his forehead protector to his face. "Take it."

Naruto turns around. "I'm leaving."

"'Article 37. Insubordination is punishable by two years of detention and hard labor,'" Tsunade said.

"I don't want to work with a coward," Sakura said. "Sasuke has no mission, right?"

Tsunade ignored her. "Naruto, one more call and I swear—"

"I can't believe gays are also deaf," Sakura said.

Naruto disappeared and instantly he was in front of Sakura. Sakura was surprised. With incredible speed, Naruto punched Sakura in the face. Sakura hit the scroll shelves and writhed in pain on the floor as she held her nose. Blood was oozing from it. She began to sob. Hinata couldn't believe her eyes. She did not know who to look at first. Tsunade lunged at Naruto. When she reached him, Naruto dispersed into smoke. It was only a clone. The real Naruto was standing in the doorway.

"'Article 12. If a shinobi deliberately inflicts injury to a friendly unit or a civilian, his forehead protector and his or her rights as a shinobi shall be revoked temporarily. If the victim chooses to abstain from pressing charges against the shinobi, the shinobi shall be given back his forehead protector and his or her rights as a shinobi within 120 days from the exact time of revocation.' I don't care if my shinobiship is permanently revoked."

"I'll charge you with something else! You will not get away with this," Tsunade said, as she knelt beside Sakura.

Naruto glared at her. "Who provoked me! You were already prepared to charge me with Article 37, weren't you? I'm telling you, Hokage-sama. Don't' try to stop me, again. I will do what I want to do and nobody has the right to stop me. If you bother me again, I'll be your worst nightmare. Treat what I did today as a threat." He went out the room.

As he walked the corridor, he felt glad. This was the first time in years that he felt satisfied with something.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Kakashi had already known it the moment he saw Sakura threw herself on her own towards the shelves. Naruto's clone had just stood there. It hadn't moved until Tsunade lunged at it, dispersing it into smoke. He leaped from the branch of the tree and into the office through the window. He recognized the faint smell immediately. He put his right arm across his face and scanned the surrounding. The three girls totally ignored him. Naruto's forehead protector caught his eyes. He searched it and found, tucked between the metal plate and the blue band, a small, red beetle. He pinched it and flicked it away. His eyes wandered to Sakura. He saw a ghostly rendition of blood on her hand. Hastily, he tossed a smoke bomb on the floor. In seconds, smoke covered the whole office. Tsunade noticed him after the first strands of the pungent substance had entered her nose.

"Kakashi?" Tsunade said, still dazed.

"It was a high level Genjutsu in its way," he said. "Naruto used the Illusion Bug of the Nara clan. I disposed of it. It was in his forehead protector."

Hearing this, Sakura pinched her nose. She was fine. There was also no blood.

"The Illusion Bug is a kind of beetle that protects a certain species of flower in the Nara Medicinal Gardens," Kakashi continued. "It is a special breed of insect propagated by the Nara clan. The bug induces vertigo by emitting an almost non-smelling gas that attacks the olfactory nerve. Naruto used the gas so that he wouldn't need to use seals. He just needed to emit his chakras to transmit the illusion he wanted you to see." He looked at Tsunade. "He wanted to deceive you into believing that he was serious in what he wanted to do. What is going on here? The moment I saw him putting his forehead protector down on your desk, questions popped up in my head one after another."

"I can't tell you."

"But this is a serious matter, Hokage-sama," Hinata said. "Naruto has resigned from the system."

Sakura had been staring at Tsunade for a time now. "He is leaving, right?" she said.

"Tell us now, Master Tsunade. With his resignation, we will know what's going on sooner or later," Kakashi said.

Tsunade stared briefly at each of his subordinates' faces. She sighed and walked back to her seat. "I signed his request for migration yesterday."

"What?" The three almost blurted out, simultaneously.

"What is he thinking?" Hinata asked. "Why would he even have the idea?"

"He told me he was tired of everyone meddling with his life," Tsunade said. "He said he wanted to start a new life in a new country."

"There must be some kind of reason," Hinata said. Sakura was only listening. "He didn't tell you?"

"I was surprised with his attitude. He seemed pleased that I was hurt."

"Why did you sign the request?" Hinata's tone was accusing. "I can't believe this is happening. I'll try to talk with him." She turned around and left the room. There was silence for a while.

"I've heard rumors. The design of Naruto's illusion makes me think, too," Kakashi said. He looked at Sakura. "His change started after your last mission together, Sakura. Your report didn't tell me anything out of place. I want you to be truthful to us, now. Is there something that you want to tell us?"

Sakura looked at him square in the eyes. He saw the tiniest of shuddering in her eyelids and he knew. Sakura's lower lip trembled.

"I've had this guilt for a long time, but I don't know why," she said. Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. "I don't know. There is something. Only I don't remember what I did. Sasuke told me that this time would come, that Naruto would hate me for real." She clasped her hands over her groin and leaned on the shelves. She bowed her head. "I don't want him to leave."

"Everyone in the village wouldn't want him to leave," Kakashi said. "Sakura, I also heard rumors that you've been sleeping with him."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not having sex with him, sensei."

"That's not my point. Why have you been doing this?"

"I love him." Without hesitation. "But he wouldn't have me. He hated what I was doing."

Kakashi frowned, finding it hard to believe that Naruto would never leap at the chance. He had known for a long time that there was no woman for Naruto but Sakura.

"He threatened to protest to the ICS if I didn't sign his request," Tsunade said. A change of subject. "I was still in shock then and I couldn't think soundly. I reasoned that I signed others' immigration requests so why shouldn't I sign his. He was testing if I would be honest to my pledge of duty. I didn't know what to do."

Kakashi put his hands on his hips and looked at the ceiling. He sighed through his nose. "The completion of his migration papers will be done after at least two weeks. We still have time to sort this out and prevent him from leaving. I'm only sure of one thing. You—Sakura—and Sasuke will have a large role in this."

…

Hinata chased after Naruto. He was already out of the Administration building. She had spotted him as she ran down the balcony hallway on the second floor. When she got out the building, Naruto was a few meters away from her. She stopped and breathed. She still hadn't gotten over her shyness around him, but she had been working at it. She had already accepted that he was not for her. She had tried years ago to get his attention, but she gave up when she saw as clear as through a crystal that she would never make progress with him. However, after all the time that had passed, she remained true to her feelings for him. The only difference was she stopped hoping.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called out.

Naruto didn't even stop. He just looked over his shoulder. "What?"

Hinata jogged to his side and matched his speed. "Please don't resign."

"I can't do that. I injured Sakura, didn't I? It's the law."

"It was just an illusion. It won't count."

"I've already left my forehead protector there. Nobody will be able to make me accept it back."

Naruto's strides were large and it was hard for her to keep up. She made a fast step and blocked his path. "Let us talk."

He tried to pass her. "I don't have time for that."

Hinata grabbed his shirt. "Please."

Annoyed, Naruto tried to pull her hand off. She steeled her grip. Infuriated by it, he pulled at her hand again with vehemence.

"Leave me alone!"

"What is happening to you?"

"You're annoying me!" He walked off at a pace that she could not catch up.

She could just helplessly watch him as he left.

…

Economic Department Chief, Kaoru Mitsunabe, caught wind of Naruto's impending departure after two days. Immediately, he had scheduled a meeting for the three heads of the most important departments of the government. Walking in fast strides toward the meeting room, he wiped his balding head with his right hand. His green cloak was made of synthetic thread and uncomfortable on the skin. The news of Naruto's impending departure worsened his discomfort.

When he reached the meeting room, he arrived on the three heads waiting for him. Yumi Natsuna from the Defense Department, an attractive woman in her early thirties, sat alone on the right. The two men, Greg Shinar from the Department of Interior Government, a stocky man in his fifties, and Kunio Shimura from the Technique Research Department, the former child prodigy now in his late twenties, sat across Yumi. The room was sealed. The afternoon sun couldn't enter from any windows where black drapes had been pulled together. There was a glass pitcher and a glass of water for each of them. Mitsunabe smiled.

"Good afternoon," he said as he seated himself at the head of the table. "Maybe you already know what I called you out here for."

"Naruto," Yumi said, savoring the feel of the name on her tongue. For a long time, she had had her eyes on him. She gathered her lips into a sensual smile. "I heard he was leaving."

"Why are we convening for that pest?" Shinar said. Always the grumpy. The Nine-Tailed Fox had killed his family. "Isn't it better that he leaves? He is not worth it."

"My Naruto is not going anywhere," beautiful Yumi said. "There must be something which has forced him to make the decision." She threw a meaningful glance at Shinar. "There is a big possibility."

"Are you accusing me?" Shinar said.

Shimura said in his cool tone, "Wait up, guys. We don't need no fighting here. We're here to analyze the repercussions of his leaving. Am I right, Mitsunabe-san?"

"Exactly," Mitsunabe said.

"So?"

Mitsunabe rolled his eyes over each of the heads' faces. "Tell me what you think will be the effect of his departure on your departments first. As the head of this assembly, I'll talk the last to sum everything up. Who wanna go first? Natsuna-san?"

"My darling Naruto will be a great loss for the Defense Department," Yumi said. Her eyes sparkled as she talked. "Let's admit it. Even geniuses like Hyuuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke, and even our very own Shimura-san here are already no match for him. Of all the shinobis in the department, he is the only one who is close to having the title Sennin which only the Third Hokage Master Sarutobi and Orochimaru was able to attain. Right now, he is the top ninja in our ranks. The kids idolize him. To tell you the truth, eighty percent of children candidates from ages eight to ten become competent enough to be Genins nowadays. If you ask one why he or she works so hard, he or she will certainly answer, 'I want to become like Naruto-onii-chan,' or 'I want Naruto-onii-chan to pay attention to me.' In addition, Konoha has never had internal conflict ever since darling defeated the obnoxious White Fang. Radicals are afraid. Countries avoid from attacking us because Naruto is here. He has an immense influence over the future and present state of the Ninja World. His name alone is enough to maintain peace in our country. If you're asking me if I would let this cute rebellion of him slide smoothly, no way. I will not hesitate to use the Kiyoko Law on him if necessary."

Shimura bobbed his head leisurely, smiling at Yumi. "Cute. But, I'll tell you this." He mouthed, "You're too old."

Yumi raised one trimmed eyebrow. "Are you gay? Want him for yourself?"

Shimura laughed aloud.

Mitsunabe cleared his throat.

"Sorry," Shimura said. "Well, my turn. In technique, Naruto is very unpredictable. He doesn't follow the standards. He creates new techniques that many of us will dismiss upon conception because of difficulty, bizarreness, or impossibility. Let me give you an example. Do you know why other villages now fear Konoha in competitions? It's because of Rasengan, the legendary technique The Fourth devised a long time ago. It was believed that only those who were born with a talent to control chakra flow could learn that technique. But, nowadays, it is already taught as one of the elementary techniques in Ninjutsu because of Naruto's brilliant idea of using a shadow clone to create the swirling ball of chakra, which even a kid could do. Another point. He is top notch it Ninjutsu tactics. He has the most number of technique combinations—two hundred thirty six—a Jonin has ever used in an actual fight. Do you remember the dragon Druga?" The other heads of departments nodded. "In forty minutes, he thought up those combinations—all had purpose, all had importance—to accomplish the general plan. Then there is his being a Sage. Our boy is the only one—only one—since Master Jiraiya to establish a rapport with the powerful Toad Village and the only one to be capable enough to pass the high standards of the Kaerukage. Lastly, and the most important point, he's a container. Not only that. He is a container that has a complete control over the massive chakra of the Demon Fox. You know what? I know you'll agree with me. That boy is a genius. Sorry, Yumi-chan."

Yumi grinned, showing her perfect teeth. "I only needed one expert to say that for me."

"Neji is a genius of structure. He can _feel_ his chakra channels, open and close gates, regulate chakra flow. He is _that_ monster. Shikamaru is a genius of planning. Two hundred or more possible decisions of the enemy and the best counters for them, chick." He converged and made his fingers bloom like a flower to emphasize his point. "Just like that. Sasuke is a genius of learning. Concepts, techniques—name it. He study it once, he can use it as if he is the original creator of the technique. And he doesn't forget. Only that he has a limited preference. Usually, the flashy ones. Those are his choice. Rock Lee is a genius of hard work. No one here will defeat him on that aspect. He can focus and concentrate like a god, forget everything at will but his goal, muster motivation as easily as blinking his eyes. Then, there's Naruto, genius of survival. Very very unpredictable. Very very innovative. Put him in life and death situations, those that are, by judgment, impossible to survive through. Wait, wait, wait, and then kaboom. You'll see him dragging his wasted body into the big entrance gate." He looked around, pleased with himself. "What is his importance to my department? He is indispensible."

"This is the first time I let myself admire you, Kunio," Yumi said.

"How about Shinar-san?" Mitsunabe said.

Shinar-san snorted. "What can I say? You told them all."

"Come on, Shinar-baby. Speak your mind," Yumi said.

"The truth is he makes governing the village easy. His presence here maintains the high moral and sense of security of the villagers." He didn't say anything anymore.

When Mitsunabe sensed this, he cleared his throat and drank from his glass. "Now let me discuss Naruto-kun's value for the economic status of Konoha. I'll enumerate. One, he's the reason for the massive immigration of families from other countries. Two, his presence in the village invites new investors. Three, there's a regular influx of new missions for Konoha because of him. To sum it up, he's one of the pillars of Konoha's economic stability." The other three nodded. "So, let's imagine if he's gone."

"I won't let that happen!" Yumi said. "Over my voluptuous, dead body!"

"Yumi, just imagine. _Imagine._" Mitsunabe let them imagine for awhile. Then, when he was sure that they had thought it over, he said, "However you think it, losing him will have massive _negative_ effects."

Yumi's face was full of concern. "Why is darling trying to severe his ties with Konoha? Is Tsunade mistreating him? Is she giving him not the proper treatment a hero is supposed to get?"

"That is not the question," Shimura said. "The question is why she signed his request."

"I think his reason is personal," Shinar said. "Tsunade has been very kind to him."

"That aside, we must think of countermeasures now if ever he doesn't change his mind," Mitsunabe said. "And what I'm thinking if worse comes to worst..."

Shimura's attention was on his thumb. "I agree with what is on your mind. But I would hate to do that. So much just to protect a village."

"Can't we appeal to the Twin Towers?" Yumi said. "If you're going to push with killing him, you'll be going against me, too." She looked for disagreement. "I mean it."

"The Twin Towers are one of the pillars of power here in Konoha," Shinar said. "It's impossible to influence them, to pressure them, or change their minds by pleading at their feet. They decide things on whim. Your only hope, Natsuna-san, is one of these days one of the twins decides to stop without reason. It happened years ago. It could still happen now."

"You see, killing him is the only solution," Mitsunabe said. "If we let him go without any plausible reason, people will lose their trust in us. They will think that Naruto has left because he was not satisfied with the village. Speculations will evolve and evolve. Considering the nature of mentality that most of the villagers have, it will be for the worse."

"If the people know that Naruto was assassinated, do you think they would still trust us?" Yumi said.

"Of course, they will be insecure and nervous for a time. But that will pass, especially when we make it sound as if he had the chance to defend himself but lost anyhow. They won't lose their trust in Konoha. They will lose their trust in Naruto."

Yumi stood up. "I still disagree."

"That measure is for the worst," Mitsunabe said. "For now, we must help him see that what he is doing is wrong, that he is putting many people's future at stake. We still have time before his documents are finished. I'll pull some strings to delay the process for a few days more. Yumi, since you handle intelligence, appoint a team to investigate him. If you have to, since you are _irresistible_ as you put it, entangle him in a situation where you can apply the Kiyoko Law against him."

Shimura woke up from his thinking. "Say, no one in here wants him to die, right, despite of the politics involved?" The three others nodded their agreement. "Then why not tell everybody that he's leaving?"

"What's your point?" Mitsunabe said.

"People will see him as a traitor," Shimura grinned. "Then, everyone will push him away. That way we won't endanger the public's confident in us. Pity for him, but if he doesn't wake up from this foolishness, he shall reap its fruit. What do you think?"

"Okay. That's for worse," Shinar said. "Yours, Chief, is for worst. For now, let's investigate first. Let's observe what Tsunade will do."

"Yeah, yeah," Shimura said with a playful smile. "Our little princess here looks like she's ready to kill us if we speak one more threatening word against her darling."

"Huh! You're just jealous! Excuse me, gentlemen." Yumi walked out of the room. She slammed the door shut.

…

Naruto continued on cleaning his apartment. He had already packed his clothes and now two large suitcases were piled up inside his room beside his bed. Today, he was to wash his laundry. As he went across his room, picking up scattered pieces of clothes on the floor, he thought back about the events that had happened. He was not regretting his decision to leave. It seemed to him that a heavy burden had been taken away from his back. He felt at ease with himself again. He could breathe. He could move around. There was no pressure to think forward to, like when he was still a shinobi were three-day vacations like he had had only occurred once in every two years. He was finally free and it felt good.

He had made his plans. First, he would enroll into the great East Kingdom Academy in Capital City. He knew that his achievements were not yet that impressive for the people of the Capital. He heard tales that shinobis of his level would only pass as a Genin there. Enemies like the Akatsuki might have lasted only for a day if the Emperor had taken notice and sent his Thirteen Elites to annihilate them. He was excited to get much stronger.

There he would filter everyone so that he would be sure no one would likely to make a fool out of him again. He would never pick people like Sakura or Sasuke or Ino who didn't care about him. He would impress in them the very first time that he didn't like people who would make fun of him, who would underestimate him, and who would take him for granted. He would show them who was boss early on. That way he would avoid the pain—the unforgettable pain—that he had experienced brought by who he considered the dearest people in his life.

Once he was in the Capital City, he would only think of getting stronger. He would _use_ people, not the other way around. He would pour every ounce of energy he had for his goal. In two or three years, he thought, he would be strong enough to be one of the Emperor's Thirteen Elites. Then, in five years, he would be its Captain. Then, in ten years, he would be the Emperor's personal bodyguard. He would carve his name in history. He felt giddy. What then afterwards? He would gain the favor of the Emperor and ask for land. Then, he would establish another Hidden Village and he would make it the best Ninja Village of all time. How about family? No. He wasn't sure if he could trust any woman again in his life. Funny how it had grown. He thought that he could shrug off the darkness he had been feeling just like anything. He did not know that hatred which sprouted out from love was the most venomous. He now could _completely_ understand how Sasuke must have felt in the past.

He hummed a tune as he climbed down the stair. He was glad nobody had bothered him for the past three days. It felt invigorating to be alone. Last night, he and the tamed Demon Fox had a talk. The Demon Fox had told him that it was regaining its original "sense" of things. It said that Naruto was really getting stronger everyday for that to happen. Said that it would assist him and make him even stronger. What Naruto had missed was how the Demon Fox had stared at him. There was, even though negligible for now, a glint of evil in its eyes.

Naruto didn't notice that he was changing slowly. He didn't concern himself with it because he was expecting the good things that would come to him once he left the insensitive village. He could hardly wait anymore.

…

Ino had woken up early that morning. The cold had left his mother two days ago and she would be reporting for work now. While she was preparing her equipments, her mother came in her room. She tucked her stethoscope in her bag's interior pocket and smiled at her mom.

"Hi, mom! How are you feeling?" she said.

"I'm fine, honey. Thank you for taking care of me. I'll give your Pop a chop in the head for leaving you to yourself these past days. I'm sure you've been missed in the hospital."

"Don't do that. Dad has been pretty busy at work." She spread her arms. "Give me a hug, Mom."

Mrs. Yamanaka did. "You are not wearing perfume?"

"I don't see the point. Do I smell bad?"

"Nope. You smell like a baby." Mrs. Yamanaka stared at her. "Is this related to Naruto's visit the other day?"

"Why would I pass up wearing perfume because of him?"

Mrs. Yamanaka sat on the bed. "You told me that you had feelings for him, right?" Ino didn't answer. "Honey, I'm proud of you. I know it hurts to give up on your special someone for a friend. You really are an adult, now."

"Thank you." Ino sat beside her mom and looked at her face. "And you are mistaken, Mom."

"Am I?"

"Who told you I had given up? I was just telling that idiot that Sakura loved him."

"Isn't that giving up?"

"No! As long as they're not married, yet!"

Mrs. Yamanaka laughed. "I thought you liked Sasuke."

"When I was a kid. Now is different. He had been a jerk for so long, doing that revenge thing no one had asked of him."

"And you're feeling what you had felt for him then, but now it's towards Naruto-kun. Please, don't hate them both."

"I don't hate Sasuke and surely not Naruto. It's just that he makes me sick. Both of them. Have you heard the rumors? I know you have. Shouldn't he find it obvious, already? If he doesn't like Sakura, why not tell her face to face? What he's doing hurts my friend."

"I know that you just wanted to defend Sakura's feelings. But did you consider Naruto's reasons?"

"Why should I? He is the one doing something wrong."

"Ino, the man started smoking after he and Team 7 had returned from their last mission. Don't you find it queer?"

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto is troubled. Something is troubling him. Why don't you talk with Sakura?"

Ino stood up and went to get her bag. She stopped and looked at her mom. "I'd do that. But, Mom, how did you notice?"

"He was a sweet young man. Every morning he would pass by our flower shop and chat with me for five minutes. He would talk about his missions, his life. He would flirt with me, flatter me. When I had a fight with your father one time—you know the time when I was not home for one day?—Naruto took me on a date. He made me cry." Mrs. Yamanaka blushed slightly. "It was very easy—"

"Mom! You're blushing!"

Mrs. Yamanaka giggled like a young girl. "What I'm trying to say is it was very easy for me to tell him everything. He was the kind of man you can be friends with easily, you can trust immediately. He was warm—"

"Warm!"

"Ino, I'm warning you. I'm telling you something serious here."

"Sorry. Just teasing." She put out her tongue. Cute.

"He was warm and honest. He didn't judge people. He was all smiles. I'm very insecure, timid, and secretive, you know that, but he was able to make me tell. If I didn't control myself, it would have been late for me to realize I had already embarrassed myself in front of him. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? It made me thinking. In a blink of an eye, would someone as kind as him change for no reason? For someone who has been through a lot to break like that…" Mrs. Yamanaka waited for Ino's reaction. Ino was quiet. Mrs. Yamanaka stood up. "Honey, like you, I don't want to lose that man. He's everyone's hero. He should be the next Hokage. But, if he keeps acting like what he currently is, he can't."

"You make it sound as if he's leaving."

"He might if he found no one he could trust." Mrs. Yamanaka kissed her daughter's cheek. "Have a good day." She walked out of the room.

Ino smiled back, but her mind was in a distant place.

Mrs. Yamanaka put out a small piece of crumpled paper from her pocket. She read the single line written on it. _Naruto is leaving the village._ "Please, Ino. Help him see the right path."

…

Shizune was troubled. Two days ago, the Council of the Elders had released a suspension order for Tsunade for "endangering the stability and future of Konoha." Until the problem had been mitigated, she would stay under house arrest. She had been stripped of all authority and privilege and would be treated as an ordinary citizen for the time being. When Shizune reached Tsunade's mansion, Tsunade was quietly watching the sky on the porch.

"What is going on?" Shizune said as she marched towards Tsunade. "I was only away for two days and this has already happened?"

Tsunade glanced up at her. She shrugged. "I made a mistake. I deserve this."

"What are you talking about? You don't deserve any of this! Naruto has his rights and privileges as a citizen of Konoha. You only did what you were supposed to do."

"Naruto is special. I was a fool not to use my power to dissuade him."

"He threatened you!" Shizune paced the floor back and forth. "They didn't even consider your feelings. Those old buffoons! What will happen after the Twin Towers has finished his documents? Will they stop him by force? The decision has been made. It's done. Why the hell can't they accept the fact that Naruto is already fed up with this village and wants to have a new life somewhere?" As if a pin had been pierced into each of her eyes, tears sprung and streamed down her face. "I can't accept this. This is just too much to ignore."

"Shizune."

"You can't stop me. He can't do this to us." She stomped away towards the door. When she was out, Tsunade close her eyes.

…

Shizune banged at Naruto's door. "Naruto! I know you're there."

"Coming! Don't destroy my door!" Naruto appeared before her. "What's wrong with you? Couldn't you knock normally?"

She looked at him square in the eyes. "Don't leave."

"What?"

"Let me inside. I want to talk with you."

Naruto considered for a while. Then he stepped aside to let her in. He was half-naked and his hands were covered with foam. While Shizune took in the wide living area, Naruto went to wash his hands. When he got back, he had a white T-shirt on. He brought a platter of cookies and two glasses of lemon juice on a tray.

"Sit down," he said. He set a glass in front of her and took a sip of juice himself. He sat down across her. "So what do you want to talk about?"

"Did you know that the Council of the Elders had stripped Master Tsunade of her powers?"

Naruto frowned. "Why would they do that?"

"You really don't know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Don't leave."

"I don't want to talk about that." His mood darkened. He stood up. "If that is the reason for your dropping by, you can leave."

"Why are you doing this?"

"It's none of your business. Leave. I have a lot to do." He started away.

Shizune glared at him. "I was right. You're selfish and not only that. You're a total asshole."

Naruto stared at her. She was serious. He grabbed her collar and yanked her to him. "Take that back." His voice was full of venom.

For the first time in her life, she felt afraid of Naruto. Nevertheless, she braced herself. "I won't."

Shizune observed his eyes. He was observing hers. For a time, they stayed like that, sharing breaths. Then he smiled. It was crooked. Suddenly, her heart raced. Was he planning to do something to her or it was just her imagination? With that smile pasted on his face, he ripped the front of her dress. She was very shocked she felt all her joints loosened. She gaped. Her eyes widened.

"I'm a total asshole, eh?" He wrapped his arms around her. "Asshole. Nice word."

He kissed her. Shizune was too late to close her mouth. He eased his way into her and she felt his heat raging into her nerves. What was that? Electricity? She blinked. Mustering all the strength and sanity left in her, she tried to pull his face away by grabbing his hair. She was not responding, still like a log. He was the doer. He was good and she was melting. She pulled his hair and broke the kiss. He laughed.

"You're so sweet, Shizune. Very sweet," he chuckled. He licked his upper lip.

Panting, she said, "Let me go! Let me go this instant, Naruto!"

"What am I supposed to do? I'm an asshole."

Shizune screamed. It was heard, she was sure. Somebody would come. After a few beats, she looked at Naruto. He was smiling at her.

"Wrong move," he said. "I'm leaving. Who would care if they found us in a situation like this?" He lowered his face and kissed her. "Why don't we consummate this in my room? Shall we?"

"No! Put me down!"

"No?" He glanced at the couch. He looked back at her with a grin. "Okay." He put her down on the couch.

She kicked him. When he backed a few steps, she rolled out of the couch. She stood with her combat needles between her fingers. She was ready to kill.

"If I couldn't change your mind by diplomacy, I would do it by violence," she said.

"Can you do it with your breasts bobbing around the place?" Naruto said.

She gasped. Why did she suddenly forget? She looked down—a wrong decision. Two clones appeared beside her. They held her arms. Naruto sauntered towards her. He held up her chin.

"You're so pretty, Shizune. Why don't you become my wife?"

"Are you an idiot?"

He caressed her cheek. "I love girls with black eyes." He kissed her lips.

This time it was maddeningly slow. It was a sweet kiss. Not too hot, not too frigid. Warm. Naruto was holding her chin. His touch was like of a feather's. Sweet. What did he eat? Cookies? He smelled like tobacco but tastes like chocolate. Her knees involuntarily shuddered. Little by little, beat by beat, he was conquering her. He pulled back an inch. She went after his mouth like a babe from its mother's teat. He pushed forward again. A moan came out her mouth. Why was she there? What was this? Yeah. He had asked her to be his wife. Good. So good. Naruto reached out to hold her hands. The clones disappeared. He playfully caressed the center of her palms by the tip of his index fingers. Slow strokes. Slowly, he coaxed them to open. She felt like she was floating. Gradually, her hands opened, dropping the needles. She was now in his arms. He had never stopped the kiss. He was taking her somewhere but she didn't know in what direction. She didn't want to open her eyes, afraid that the good feeling would fly away. She felt the soft surface of the couch on her back.

That was it. The Kiyoko Law! A male migration applicant is prohibited to leave the village even after his papers have been released if he had sex with a woman within the time his papers were still in process. A physician shall confirm if or if not a child has been conceived from the coupling. The male applicant is obliged to stay in the village for one month or until a negative result has been released. The physician is given full control over the time, manner, and place of release of the result. If a child is conceived, the male applicant shall marry the woman. Otherwise he is permitted to leave without further delay.

If she was unfortunate, she would have his child and him as a husband. Unfortunate? Yes, unfortunate! She didn't really like him. Not as a man. As a friend he _had been_ first class. Had been. Not now because he made her sick. Sick, sick, sick! _Oh, no_. Sick of herself because she enjoyed the sensations he was making her feel. He kissed like he was trained to do it. She had to concentrate. She perked up. His hands were on her breasts, now. Disgusting? Concentrate! He would be her husband. They would marry. They would have a family. He would smile at her. She might melt. Was she the only one who knew that Naruto was actually handsome? His lips left her numb lips. A butterfly landed on her chin, then on her forehead, then on her right cheek, then the other, then on her nose. A butterfly so light and so in love with a flower. Why was he capable of so much love? She felt special and never in her life had she felt that way. She moaned. She was losing it. She had come to tell him not to leave. _Plead_ him not to leave. But now it was _she_ that didn't want to leave. She didn't want to open her eyes and see that it had been just a dream. The butterfly was now on her left breast. Flapped its wings on the cherry tip, sending shivers down her spine. "My God." It flew and perched on the other. She whimpered at the pleasure. Then it landed over her heart. It became a worm, slithering down and down. She writhed, tossed around, kicked around. She tried to grab his hair, but Naruto held her hands. She squeezed his hands, surprised at her action, but let it go. Right now, his hands were the only ledges where her sanity could hold onto. Then it happened. She let him there. It was the longest minute of her life. It seemed to her that time was on a standstill. She arched her back, craned her neck back, and called out his name. The hell with Tsunade's arrest. The hell with the Council of the Elders. They would never make her this satisfied.

Thinking about it, Naruto is not so bad. If I can change his perspective and bring him back to the way he was, and then add the love he is capable of giving, the gentleness, the warmth, he might make me happy. Like right now. It's funny how rapture can make a person forget about the most important things.

Naruto. She smiled. A whirlpool. Truly you are.

He moved over her. She felt his nakedness. She was not sure how he had made her feel secured and relaxed, but it was there. Almost as tangible as the warm leather surface of the couch. She was ready to accept him. "You will not leave me," she muttered. "Won't you? Will you stay by my side?"

A pause. She braced herself, pressing her lids into her eyes tighter than necessary. Then, she felt two drops of liquid on her face. She opened her eyes and saw him crying. He was trying to suppress it, but the tears found their way out his eyes. She had never seen a man so vulnerable. His sobs gave her goose bumps.

"Naruto?"

"I'm sorry, Shizune-san," he said. His voice had a pathetic ring on it, like a rusted chime. "I'm sorry." He moved onto the floor and hugged his knees.

The throbbing in her womanhood subsided. She pushed herself up. "Naruto, are you okay?" She reached out to touch his shoulder. Naruto jerked her head towards her. Was it her imagination or his left eye was really black? She pulled her hand back.

Naruto stood up. "Leave! I don't need any of you!" He ran to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Hastily, Shizune put her clothes on. She climbed up to his room. She tried to open the door, but it was lock.

"Naruto? Let me in. Naruto!" His sobs reached her ears. He was cursing in his pillows. She could hear his voice. It was muffled, but she could not deny the vehemence in it. He had something that was making him very angry. Something that hurt a lot.

She listened for awhile, trying to make sense of his ramblings. Then, he fell silent. She said, "Naruto? May I come in?" She paused. "Okay. Do what you want, but I'll not leave you until you tell me what your problem is. Naruto, are you listening? I'm here. I'll wait for you here."

…

Ino had filed an early off and was now on his way to Sakura's house. A nurse had told her that Sakura was on an indefinite leave. The nurse didn't know why. She had also found something strange. The nurses and healers had seemed harried, restless, tensed. She didn't understand why. She wanted to but didn't bother to ask. Her first priority was her friend.

She reached Sakura's house. She knocked at the door. Mrs. Haruno greeted her.

"Is Sakura home?" Ino asked.

Mrs. Haruno's smile faded. Her eyes betrayed her anxiety. "She is in her room."

"May I see her?"

"Sorry, honey. She told me she didn't want to see anyone."

"Please."

Mrs. Haruno smiled. "Okay. I think she wouldn't mind if it was you."

Now, they were standing in front of Sakura's door. Ino had a tray with a pitcher of tea, two clay mugs, and two slices of strawberry cake.

"Honey, Ino is here. She wants to see you," Mrs. Haruno said.

"Ino?" The voice was raspy, seemed from crying.

"Sakura?" Ino glanced at Mrs. Haruno. Her eyes asked if she should continue. Mrs. Haruno nodded. "Can I talk with you?"

"Huh? Wait! Give me a minute!"

Ino and Sakura's mom heard a racket inside. Concerned, Mrs. Haruno turned the knob and pushed the door open. They were both surprised to see Sakura hastily picking up scattered things on the floor. Sakura stopped when she saw them, dropping the fabric, books, and stuff toys in her arms.

"I told you to wait," she said.

Ino put the tray on the floor and ran up to Sakura. "Why are you…you look like a mess!"

Sakura bowed her head. "I told you, didn't I? I said give me a minute."

"Auntie, could you please prepare the bath?" Ino told Mrs. Haruno over her shoulder. She turned back to Sakura and held her face. "What happened to you?" Sakura's face was oily, her hair was messy, and her eyes were swollen from crying. There was even dust that was stuck on the tear tracks on her cheeks. Ino grabbed her hand. "Come on. You're going to take a bath."

Sakura let herself be led by her best friend. She smiled longingly at the thought. _Best friend._

Ino did a good job. After she had bathed her, Sakura looked like a human being again. This was her second soaping. Ino was washing Sakura's back while the latter sat on a low stool. Sakura had remained quiet the whole time. Ino thought that she would not speak while they were inside the bathroom. She was surprised when Sakura spoke.

"Naruto is leaving, Ino."

"He has a new mission?"

"He will be migrating to the Capital City. He is leaving for good."

"What?" She stopped rubbing Sakura's back.

"His papers are already in process."

After hearing this, Ino lost grip of the soap. "What's going on?"

"Naruto went to Master Tsunade's office to submit a request for migration five days ago. Master Tsunade signed it."

"She signed it? Did he tell his reasons?"

Sakura shook her head.

"What is his problem? That idiot! How about giving him a mission? Something that will last for years. Have you tried suggesting it to Master Tsunade? Espionage? Something like that?"

"He has resigned from the system."

"What? Don't tell me Master Tsunade let that slide, too."

Sakura nodded.

"That's impossible."

"He attacked us with a Genjutsu—" Sakura cut herself. "It's a long story."

"Tell me. I want to know." Ino went in front of Sakura. "Tell me, please." She looked at Sakura's eyes. They were welling up. "Oh, no. On second thought, I don't want to know. What's done is done."

"He punched me in the illusion," Sakura said. "Punched me hard in the face that I threw myself to the shelves. He hates me, now, Ino. I also think that the reason he's leaving is because of me."

Ino couldn't believe what she was hearing. Even though it was just an illusion, she was astounded that Naruto would punch Sakura. But that was not what had shocked her the most. It was the fact that even in an illusion Naruto would punch a girl in the face. She couldn't believe _that._

"Did you try talking to him?" Ino asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

Sakura glanced at Ino.

Ino realized what she had said. "Sorry. My bad."

"Ino, I have a request," Sakura said. "Could you please enter my consciousness and check on my memory? Somehow I feel guilty of something, but I can't remember anything I did to feel guilty about. My previous mission with Naruto and Sasuke is still a mystery to me. Just after the mission, Naruto suddenly took up smoking and tried avoiding me. We would meet at a random place. He would smile at me but would immediately excuse himself. When I cornered him and was able to engage him in a conversation, he had this annoying habit where he lit up a cigarette as if he would not be able to organize his thoughts in front of me without it. He stopped sitting with me at lunch. One time, I refrained from calling out to him. I was sure he saw me. He just passed me by. We were in the market. There were a lot of people who knew us, knew that we were best friends. But he didn't care. He walked past me and greeted some harlot I didn't recognize. You wouldn't know how embarrassed I was. I went to a public restroom to cry."

"So that was the reason you began sleeping with him?" "

"I thought that I would know why he was being like that with me if I stayed as close to him as possible, but I don't know. Everything has been abnormal after that mission." She paused. "Ino, did you know that I'm in love with Naruto?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to lose him. When he brought Sasuke back, I was happy. But it didn't last. I thought that time that I still loved Sasuke, but my heart told me otherwise. It had only been infatuation. My heart was already beating for someone else." She paused. "Do you remember how I confessed to Naruto when he was about to embark on a journey? That confession was real. The first time, which was after our battle with Pain, I tried to stop him from chasing after Sasuke by confessing to him. I admit that that was just a trick. I thought that he would change his mind. But that one, the second one, was real." She looked at Ino. "Help me with this, Ino. After what happened in Master Tsunade's office, I couldn't stop thinking that Naruto knows something that I should also know, but my mind is keeping it from me. I suspect that in that mission, one way or the other, someone had used a Mind Manipulating technique on me."

Ino was quiet for a while. She just stared into Sakura's eyes. Then she nodded. "I'll try," she said. Ino formed fourteen seals in a blindingly fast succession and afterwards made a diamond with her forefingers and thumbs. "Mind Manipulation Technique: Consciousness Trespass!"

When Ino opened her eyes, she was floating in a large room. Moving scenes that would play for a second and back again were on large rectangular frames neatly stacked to make an endless wall in front of her. She compared the scenes and learned that going to the left would take her to older memories. In other minds, it was the other way around. She looked for the frames that depicted Sakura's last mission. She moved, skimming quickly through frames so that she was like watching Sakura as she acted her life, only backwards. It was kind of fun in a way. Then, she found it. There were two hundred frames or more that was blurry, some even totally black. She formed seven successive hand seals. "Mind Manipulation Technique: Memory Unsealing!" One frame began to clear. Her eyes slowly widened when she saw. It was a disgusting sight. "Seal!" The scene became blurry again. She closed her eyes and opened it. She was back in the bathroom. Sakura had an inquiring expression. For a time, she didn't know how to proceed.

"What did you see?" Sakura asked.

She recalled the scene. She thought of Naruto, how painful it must have been for him. She would have slapped Sakura if her friend was not miserable enough to warrant more sympathy than anger from her. She shook her head. "I can only say that something had indeed happened. I don't want to tell you what. I don't have the right to meddle. It's between you three. You would need to talk with Naruto directly, Sakura."

"Is it awful? Did I do something so awful that you wouldn't tell me? Did someone seal my memory?"

"Yes. The dark style and the fact that you had only one person with you at that specific time make it clear that Sasuke had performed the sealing. I'm sorry, Sakura. That's all I would permit myself to say."

Sakura seemed to understand. She clasped her hands and hung her head. "Did I do it with him?" Ino didn't reply. Sakura looked up. "Did I have sex with Sasuke?"

Ino put her hands over Sakura's ears. "Listen to me, Sakura. You need to talk with Naruto. Talk with him before it's too late." She inhaled twice to prepare herself to the pain that was about to come. "Naruto still loves you. I'm sure of it."

…

The night came. Shizune was still there hugging her knees, repeatedly replaying the intimate encounter she had had with Naruto in the morning. It was her first time and she didn't have even the faintest trace of regret. Before she had thought that it would be embarrassing. But in Naruto's arms, with his butterfly kisses on her skin, his slow and maddening way of kissing her lips, she had felt relaxed and thankful. She admitted to herself that she had briefly forgotten the true reason she was there. She couldn't believe that she could be indecisive at such important time.

How was it possible? She shunned the attention other men gave her, believing that she should find the one for her and not the other way around. She didn't even trust men in things not related to ninja missions. She had built a wall around her and had been single all this time because of it. Then, for a completely different reason, a reason that no one would think would result into a relationship but more into struggle, Naruto demolished the wall around her just by telling him he was an asshole. Naruto had made her feel more than the woman who loved a pig and an old hag and was wasting too much time in the laboratory researching for new poisons and potions. He had indirectly told her how beautiful she was, how attractive she could be, and how weak she could get. And she was happy for it. Was she? She shook her head. That encounter had happened hours ago. It was time to get to business. Now for real.

After Naruto had stopped and locked himself in his room, Shizune had a glimpse of the underlying cause of Naruto's puzzling behavior. The confidence he had possessed while they argued about his departure, the boldness when he began his venture over her skin, all at once all of it disappeared the moment their coupling was imminent. He had cried. He had run to his room.

Shizune stood up and put her ear on the door. When she heard nothing, she knocked. "Naruto, can we talk? Please. I assure you that you can trust me. I'm your—" _Lover?_ "—friend." No response. "Naruto, you leave me with no other choice. I'm coming in." Using her combat needles, she tried jimmying the keyhole. She listened carefully for the click. Click! "Naruto, I'm coming in, okay?" She peeked inside. Naruto wasn't there. The wind blew and the closet door banged on the wall. She let herself in. When she saw that the closet was empty, her heart raced. She jerked her head towards the window. The wind danced with the drapes. "Shit."

…

"It has been four days now ever since Naruto went missing," Kunio Shimura said. He was reporting to Mitsunabe. "What do you think? It has come to this, the 'worse' scenario. Should we do it?"

"Don't you have any information about his whereabouts?"

"Would I tell you he was missing if I had?"

"Don't speak to me like that."

"Sorry. It's just…it doesn't matter. Should we implement the countermeasure?"

"He is leaving us with no other alternative."

Shimura was quiet for a while.

"Shimura?"

"I never thought that we are about to betray the person who saved us." Shimura sighed. "Damn. I hate to do this."

"We are sharing the same sentiment."

"I just hope that we wouldn't have to implement the last option."

In three hours, the whole village knew about Naruto's plan of leaving the village. As what the three heads had expected, the majority of the people felt that Naruto had betrayed them.

…

One day had passed. Naruto staggered on his way towards the Ichitaku Ramen Shop. He didn't notice the glares the people gave him. He was drunk. A cigarette was sticking from his mouth. Dark circles were around his eyes. He reached the ramen shop and sat on the leftmost stool. Two other men were eating there.

"A bowl, please," he said. He put his payment on the counter. The two men began whispering to themselves. He shot them a glance. When the shopkeeper was setting down the bowl of ramen in front of him, one of the two men, Aki, stood up.

"Don't give that to him. He is not one of Konoha, anymore."

Naruto frowned. "What's your problem, big guy? I've already paid."

Scowling, Aki grabbed the money on the counter and slapped it into Naruto's face. Naruto fell on the ground, shocked. Aki spat on him.

"You are not welcome here, anymore, traitor! A person like you has no place in this village!"

Naruto slowly got up, dusting his butt and wiping the spat away with his sleeve. "What are you talking about?"

When Aki was about to open his mouth, an egg landed on Naruto's cheek. Aki sneered. Naruto turned to the direction it had come from. Another flew and hit him. Then another. And another. A group of kids were throwing them.

"Go away, traitor!"

"Yeah. Mama said that you were leaving the village because you hated us! We don't need you!"

"Selfish! Selfish! I hate you!"

"Well, well, well. Good kids, aren't day?" Aki said. "These are the kids that you will be leaving behind. Very reliable, not like you when you were younger."

People went out their houses to glare, watch, and enjoy as the group of kids made a fool out of Naruto. However, instead of cowering in fear, he raised his head up and spread his arms, welcoming the barrage of food flying towards him. He let them stain him with their hatred. He was smiling. In time, the rain of food dwindled and then stopped completely. The villagers were not sure how to proceed. Many seemed embarrassed for acting like children. The shopkeeper and his wife were crying. Naruto wiped his face with his sleeves.

"Is that all you got?" Naruto said. "Is no one there angry enough to want to kill me? Come on! This is your last chance! Kill me now or you'll regret it."

Aki's eyes were full of compassion, now. "What is happening to you, Naruto-sensei? What's wrong? What do you want? Money? Women? I could get them for you. My eldest daughter is head over heels for you. She would be willing."

Naruto grinned at Aki. "What about your wife?"

Aki was shocked. "Sensei…"

"If you give me your wife, I'll stop. What do you say?"

Aki closed his eyes, suppressing the tears. "I don't understand what's going on with you."

Naruto turned on the villagers. "To anyone who has a young, pretty wife. If you give me your wife, I won't leave the village." Everybody seemed to shrink from him. "I thought you wanted to know what was going on with me. Why doesn't anyone come forward and _donate_ his wife?"

"I'll go with you. Just stop this. I don't want the man who has built this new Konoha be abhorred by everyone."

Naruto turned his head to the voice. A pretty woman with black hair stood behind him.

"You have a husband?" he asked.

"I'm Aki's wife. My name is Asami." After saying this, Aki's tears streamed down his face. "If you promise that you'll revert back to your old self, I'm yours. Forever. I'm sure Aki will understand."

He turned to Aki. "Aki?" Aki reluctantly nodded. "Wow, I didn't know that your loyalty to me was this deep."

A young girl sprinted forward and kicked Naruto's leg. "You're a bad person! You're a bad person!"

"And who might you be?"

"Atsuko, stop that, now!" Asami said. "Naruto-sensei—"

"Anata. That's what I want you to call me."

"A…" Asami swallowed. She glanced at her husband. She retrieved her glance and looked into Naruto's eyes. "Anata."

"No! No! You're not my Mama's anata! You're not!"

"Forgive her. She's my daughter. Please," Asami said.

Naruto smiled. It was fake but warm enough to calm Atsuko down. "Watch, Atsuko. I'll do something you'll enjoy very much." Having the mind of a child, Atsuko blinked, intrigued, believing that Naruto would somehow do a magic trick for her. Atsuko didn't smile, yet, but her eyes were hopeful. Suddenly, Naruto kissed Asami on the lips. Atsuko's heart broke. She began to cry. Aki immediately picked his daughter up, trying desperately to calm her down. When Naruto broke the kiss, Asami was crying. So was him. He backed away from her, tears oozing from his eyes like blood from a deep wound. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry." Naruto reached out to hold her hand, but a fist suddenly landed on his face.

"You bastard," Shikamaru hissed. "You fucking bastard!" Shikamaru collared Naruto and began punching him. Naruto was not trying to defend. "You make me sick! Bastard!" Asami suddenly grabbed his arm. He turned to her. "What's your problem? You saw it, right? This shit broke your little daughter's heart." Asami just shook her head. "What?" he blurted out incredulously.

Naruto was grinning, again. "You are already a Jonin, but your punches…" he chuckled "…goodness."

Shikamaru pushed him to the ground and stood up. He lit a cigarette, dragged a long one, and blew furiously. He looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye. "Stand up."

Naruto did. "Won't you arrest me? You should, man. Grave misconduct. Public Scandal. Asami there could even press me for rape and child abuse."

"I will not do that," Asami said.

"Wow, thank you! You're so generous, Anata."

"Please, Naruto-sensei, don't do this to us."

"Sensei? I could have reconsidered if you called me Anata."

Shikamaru dragged Naruto by the wrist. "You follow me, now."

As they went, Asami whispered, "Please come back to us, Naruto-sensei."

…

Naruto splashed his face with the water from the creek. Shikamaru had taken him to a secluded park owned by the Nara clan. It was quiet. Only the lush greenery was their audience.

Naruto shook his head to get rid of the water. He could smell the alcohol in his breath and sweat. The water hadn't completely removed the stench of eggs on him. He reeked like puke. Shikamaru wrinkled his nose to show his distaste.

"Could I have a cigarette?" Naruto asked.

Shikamaru did what he thought Naruto deserved. He was angry. He threw his pack at Naruto's feet. Naruto smirked and picked up the pack, shook a cigarette, and pulled it out with his mouth.

"Light?" Naruto said. Shikamaru tossed his matches. Naruto lit his cigarette. "Thanks."

"That was the first time," Shikamaru said.

"First time?"

"Yeah, the first time I let my emotion take over. I usually don't allow that, but what you did in there was too much. Who the hell do you think you are?"

Naruto shrugged. He did a drag and puffed. "Were you the one who broke the ice?"

"I didn't know you were leaving until yesterday. Besides, even if I knew, I wouldn't do it. The villagers look up to you. I don't want to ruin that."

"Really."

"For goodness' sake, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Naruto casually looked at him. "Shikamaru, what would your father do if he found out that I had an affair with your mom?"

"He would kill you. No questions asked."

"That's a pretty straightforward answer."

"Because what you're saying is a pretty straightforward immorality."

"Then, do you think I should have killed?"

Shikamaru frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Forget it," Naruto said. "I was just talking to myself."

"You know what, I don't care now if you leave or die. If you really want to leave, leave, but never drag anyone else into your problem. Leave the people alone. At least, when you leave, their hopes will remain intact."

"It won't happen, now. They believe that their hero has betrayed them."

"Were your eyes open? They couldn't hate you for long. Didn't you see how embarrassed they were with what they had done? Didn't you see how Aki-san's anger collapsed and how he offered you his own daughter so that you would come to your senses? Didn't you see how Asami-san pleaded you to take her in exchange of you reverting back to your old self? The people still love you. Unless you kill a child in front of them, that would never change."

"A consolation."

"I hate to say this, but if you do something like that again, I promise to kill you myself."

"Understood."

"Where have you been, anyway?"

"Somewhere."

Shikamaru shook his head. "I understand. Okay. You don't want to talk." He paused. "This park is guarded by ANBUs. Until your papers are finished, I won't let you go out from here. Do you understand?"

"This is a better place than anywhere. Thank you. May I ask for a small favor?"

"Shoot."

"Sake, cigarettes, a change of clothes, soap, and privacy."

"What do you mean by privacy?"

"Don't tell anyone I'm here. If someone sneaks in, I will kill whoever he or she is. Your responsibility. Don't treat this as a joke."

Shikamaru studied Naruto's expression. He spat on the ground. "Deal."

…

Naruto avoided sleeping because he dreamed of that awful day. After what had happened between him and Shizune, he had never dreamed of anything but that. Sake was what prevented him from sleeping. For many, it was a kind of sleeping pill, but, for him, its effect was the other way around. It filled him with heat and energy that he consumed by rigorous training. Afterwards, he was not sleepy anymore. His head would throb in pain, but he was completely sober. It even made him more alert. Right now, he was consuming a bottle of sake that Shikamaru's maid had brought to him. He had been surprised when the maid offered her a "special service" that he declined vehemently. He did not want anything that had something to do with women anymore. He had already sincerely regretted his recklessness with Shizune.

He stood up and his vision swirled. He chuckled foolishly. "Hey, moon, do you want a drink? I'm sorry. I know, I know. Because you don't have any hands!" He laughed at his own lame joke. Suddenly, he heard a stick broke from a few meters away. He whipped his head in the direction of the sound. "Who's there? I'm giving you ten seconds to turn around. If you die, it will not be my responsibility." Sakura emerged from behind a tree. "Sakura?"

"Hi, Naruto." She gave a weak smile. "How have you been?"

"What are you doing here? Did Shikamaru—"

"I used my own authority to make the ANBUs step aside. Don't blame Shikamaru."

"Leave. I don't want company. I'm forgiving you this time, but if you—"

"I'll never bother you again once you hear me out."

"There's nothing for us to talk about. Don't think of dissuading me. I'm decided. I'm tired of this village."

"You mean you're tired of me." Naruto didn't answer. "If that's what's bothering you, I will leave, instead. You're more important to the village than I am."

"I told you I didn't want you dissuading me!" He hurled the sake bottle at her. Fortunately, it missed her right cheek by an inch. "One more word about that and I swear that my punch won't be an illusion anymore."

"Why do you hate me?"

"Hate you? I wouldn't use that word. I'm disgusted. I'm disgusted with you."

"Why?"

Naruto looked into her eyes. He smirked. "Your eyes are saying you know the answer to that."

"Did you see? Was I doing it with Sasuke?"

Naruto applaud and laughed derisively. "Oh, so you remember. So what do you want now? Console me? Too late, pretty girl."

"Answer me!"

The intensity of her voice ripped the smile off his face. He was quiet for a while. Then, he said softly, "Yes. I saw you." He saw her knees buckle. She stepped back once. "You can leave now if only that was what you came here for." The wind blew at them as if mocking the sound of finality in his voice.

"Was it bad?"

The question infuriated him. "You son of a bitch! Are you an idiot or what?" He paused to compose himself. "Was it bad? Of course, it was! Why? Because I loved you, for goodness' sake! There I was, expecting a warm welcome, thinking of a long night where the three of us would have a pleasant conversation, introduce ourselves to each other one more time, excited like a little boy, only to witness a fucking love scene courtesy of my two best friends. Now you're asking me if that was bad? Fucking…how insensitive could you get?" He paced the ground. "I know that you are thinking that I have no right to feel this way. Who the hell am I, for heaven's sake? But can you blame me? Sakura, you made me hope. Don't tell me you don't remember. You were even holding that accidental kiss that you had meant for my cheek against me. Remember now? One month after I brought Sasuke back, your behavior towards me changed all of a sudden. You became sweet: cooking lunch for me, telling me how attractive I had grown. You even resorted to kissing me goodbye on the cheek every day. I began to believe that you had developed some feelings for me. And I was a fool. That night, I meant to confirm that. I was looking forward to have a long conversation with the two of you to see if my intuition was correct. I wanted to see if you still had feelings for Sasuke. I thought that if you didn't show any, I would make my move and confess. But instead of a conversation, what I arrived on was a confirmation. Indeed it was. A confirmation that you still loved Sasuke and you didn't care how I would realize it. I wouldn't have been like this if you didn't make me hope. I already accepted the fact that you wouldn't love anyone but Sasuke a long time ago. I had already coped. My heart was already conditioned for that. But then you turned on me, steered my heart into believing that it was I, not Sasuke, whom you loved. If that was not the case, I wouldn't have felt this pain. I wouldn't have been afraid of sleeping because that awful memory wouldn't haunt me. I wouldn't have avoided you and I wouldn't have been disgusted with you. I wouldn't have changed because I could have easily looked away. I would have stayed as my old self, not fearing betrayal, not fearing lies, open and accepting. But you changed me. You know what I confirmed? I confirmed that what The Third had told me was true. That love can make you happy or make you insane." He lit a cigarette and turned around. "Now, leave. I don't want to see you again."

Sakura was crying so bad her whole face was wet. "But it was true. Everything. You were the one I loved. I love you, Naruto."

"Words will not affect me, anymore. It is too late for reconciliation."

"I still not remember everything." She sniffed. "I know I hurt you so much. I'm sorry."

That very night Sakura cut her wrist.

…

Naruto's limbs were numb. His body was drenched with sweat. He had just punished himself with a rigorous training. Panting, he staggered toward his clothes under a tree. It was only ten steps away when he suddenly felt nauseous. The drink he had taken was forcing its way out his mouth. He stopped and stifled it, covering his mouth with his right hand. But it burned his throat and leaked out between his fingers. He threw up. The dizziness worsened. As he retched out everything from his stomach, he blacked out. He shook his head, breathed in a lungful. "I'm okay. I'm okay," he said, encouraging himself. But when he opened his eyes, his surroundings was still black. He fell forward and lost consciousness.

He was lying on his stomach. He was holding the ankle of someone. "Stop this, please." When he looked up, it was his own self he saw. But this Naruto was dark. This Naruto had the stench of evil. "Stop. You've done enough damage."

Evil Naruto hunkered in front of him. "Come on. You're saying that that is enough? That would not avenge even your pinky. Let me go. You're tired. Let me take it from here. It's hard walking around while dragging you at my foot. People will call you crazy if you continue being bad then being apologetic for it after a blink of the eye. Wouldn't you thank me, instead? Man, I want to get a hold of that Asami woman. Her lips were—how will I say it—fantastic. Hot. Even if she had children already, she sure looked like she loved being beautiful. We wouldn't be tired of her for a while." He smirked. "So let go of me. Didn't you hear that? Money and women. With your—no—our popularity you will have a share of each. A big share. Imagine. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Hinata, Kuronoha, Shizune, you name it, serving naked for you. Food on gold plates, a large mansion. A pyramid of money. If you let me take over, you'll not regret it. I swear. You will have every pleasure you could ever wish for."

"No. Please."

"What do you want? Ah, power. Is that what you want? It's easy."

"I don't want anyone suffering because of me."

"Oh, so you'd rather have yourself betrayed. Man, that's your weakness. You're too soft. Remember how Sakura betrayed us. If a sweet girl like her could do it, so is everyone. People are the same inside out. Nobody has a fragrant shit. So be a good boy and let go."

"I won't."

Evil Naruto stood up and began kicking at him. "I said let go! I'm getting tired of an asshole like you!" Even battered severely, Naruto held on. Evil Naruto let out an exasperated sigh. "Kyubi, are you there? This bastard is stubborn."

The red chakra materialized in front of evil Naruto. The Demon Fox was leering. "Did I hear you call my name?"

"Who else, idiot? This shit will not let go of me even if he dies. Cut my leg and then heal it for me."

"So assuming. Did you think I would listen to someone like you?"

Evil Naruto grinned. "You want to test me? You want that sanity of yours disappear again?"

The Kyubi laughed. "That's more like it. I've been waiting for the 'you' to come to his senses."

"What's happening to you, Kyubi?" Naruto asked. "Aren't we friends, anymore?"

"Since when? I was only acting. You're not like Bee who has no attachments to this world. _He_ is wise. He would kill the nearest person to him if necessary. While you, you are still young and easily affected by emotion." The Kyubi sneered. "The fate of a container is always to be alone. You cannot serve two masters. If you maintain a bond with someone, you will always have space for doubt and fear in your heart. A little space is all I need to keep myself from completely losing my true nature."

"I never had doubts or fears."

"That's what you think. A man like that is called a saint. If what you say was true, do you think this fine young man would be standing before you?"

"I won't let you—"

"You craved. You were not happy with what you had. You are not pure. It is not possible for water to remain perfectly clean in a container that has molds in it. The man who is before you is the embodiment of your subconscious desires. If you were pure, he would not have materialized. And if you were pure, I would not be lecturing you today." The Kyubi laughed. "Where we were, my dear container?"

"I said do something about him," evil Naruto said.

"That is easy." The Kyubi bit Naruto's arm. The pain made him scream. He let go. After a few more screams, he fainted.

Evil Naruto rubbed his ankle. "Did you know that he has kept holding onto me until now? Man, my ankle got bruised." He straightened up. "How did you do that? I thought that he had tamed you."

"He had tamed my chakras, but he had never completely got rid of my hatred. I've waited a long time. Luckily, the fool provided me with a peck of darkness to chew on. Now, I'm free."

"You're not because you'll work under me."

"It's the same. I only wish to vent my anger at anything. I know you can do that for me. I don't mind if you use everything I have. I only live to destroy."

"Don't expect any gratitude from me for what you've done. It's not my style."

"It wouldn't have made any difference if you did."

…

Naruto stood up. The dizziness had vanished. He looked up at the moon and grinned, showing a more developed set of canines than what he originally had. He went to the tree and put his clothes on. Suddenly, he caught a whiff of sweat. He easily calculated that it was coming from a male shinobi two hundred meters away from him.

He heard the shinobi say, "He woke up. He's at the tree."

"Spies," he muttered. "I hate spies." He vanished.

He heard the shinobi say, "He's gone! Alert, he's gone!"

He was now behind the shinobi. "I'm not gone. I've been here all the time."

The shinobi turned sharply to face him only to be caught off guard by a fast slash of a hand. His severed head fell on the ground. Naruto watched the head roll as he licked the blood on his hand. He knelt beside the head and inspected its face.

"Wait, you're not from Konoha." He folded the right ear of the head and found a three-dot tattoo behind it. "Assassins. So, they were planning to kill me sooner or later. This is getting interesting." He heard the voice coming from the transmitter. He put it on his ear.

"Hey, answer me! What happened? What was that sound?" a man said.

"Come here. I'll show you something interesting," Naruto replied and grinned.

…

Kakashi appeared at the porch of Tsunade's mansion. He was tensed. He rapped at the door. "Master Tsunade, wake up! It's an emergency! Master Tsunade!" He heard footsteps coming down.

Tsunade slid the door open. "It's two of the clock. What's happened?"

"Sakura committed suicide. She hasn't been breathing for thirty minutes, now."

Tsunade blanched. "What?"

"Come quickly! Everyone is doing his best to keep her heart from stopping."

Tsunade didn't bother to change. She tightened her robe's strap and leaped off. When two ANBUs—her guards—blocked her way, she ruthlessly threw them away.

When they arrived at the hospital, they passed by Mrs. Haruno crying on a bench beside the ER door. She looked miserable. Blood had stained her pajamas. Tsunade pushed the door and entered the room. Kakashi stayed outside. Tsunade's heart leapt to her throat when she saw Sakura. The rosy cheeks of the girl had gone ashen gray. Her usually cherry lips were chapped and white. Her eyelids were ajar. Two blood packs supplied Sakura's circulatory system with new blood. Four Hyuuga Jonins were administering chakras into her chakra channels. The transparent oxygen mask was clear all the while, a sign that she was not breathing. Tsunade shot a glance at the heartbeat monitor. The waves were occasional and very weak. She caught sight of Sakura's wrist. Fortunately, it had been cleaned and bandaged. She reached out and ripped the oxygen mask from Sakura's face and inserted two small tubes into her throat, instead. She turned open the knob of the oxygen tank where the tubes were connected. She watched as Sakura's chest expanded—a ghastly sight. She turned the knob close. Tsunade heard the hissing of the escaping air. In two seconds, she formed thirty-two successive hand seals. "Forbidden Technique: Necromancer's Orbs!" Two fingernail-sized light orbs materialized at the center of her palms. The room was filled with white light. The four Jonins had to close their eyes. Tsunade immediately put the orbs over Sakura's heart and diaphragm. She let go. The twin orbs hovered at the spots. She formed eighty-eight hand seals in five seconds, a truly incredible feat. "Forbidden Medical Technique: Soul Snatcher!" The orbs were like sucked up into Sakura's body. The light disappeared. Tsunade immediately took the small crystal off her forehead and put it on Sakura's forehead. She formed twenty-seven hand seals in six seconds, obviously in difficulty. Her skin began to sag and shrivel. "Healing Resuscitation: Electrical Impulse Regeneration Technique." A reedy breathe came out her mouth. "Double the chakra supply, now!" Blue chakras crept onto the crystal and then it swallowed the chakras into Sakura's brain. Immediately, the waves on heartbeat monitor registered vigor. It beeped and beeped until the readings were normal. Tsunade had regressed back to her wrinkled appearance. She took the tubes out Sakura's throat and put back the oxygen mask over Sakura's nose. White vapor exploded on the surface inside. Sakura was finally breathing. "Have another Hyuuga here," she said to a nurse who had been astounded with her incredible performance. "Now!" The nurse blinked and heeded her command. She looked back at Sakura. Sakura's color was returning. Then she fainted.

…

Naruto had difficulty, now. The first two assassins had been easy. He had killed them like breaking a stick in two. But, now, facing the ANBUs, he couldn't seem to bring himself to kill. Fourteen ANBUs lay half dead on the ground. That was all that he could do. Leave them half dead. The last ANBU attacked. He mustered all the evil energy he could muster. This time he would kill this one for sure. The ANBU made his chakras flow into his kunai to make a katana with the sharpest blade. As he moved closer, hands shot out from the ground and held him up. He swung his chakra sword to cut the hands. Naruto saw the opportunity and attacked with a Rasengan. When the ANBU looked up, he was too late. Naruto leaped up. He would bash the head of the ANBU into debris of ruined flesh. He was few feet away when the irritating sensation shot through him again. His hand moved down, the aim was the ANBUs stomach now. He tried to retrieve his control and aimed for the head. He couldn't. In the end, his Rasengan hit the ANBU's stomach. The ANBU coughed up blood, his stomach drilled in, but he was still breathing. He flew backwards, two yards away. Naruto cursed under his breath. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was inside his consciousness again. He saw the Demon Fox pacing in front of its old cell. The real Naruto was sitting inside the cell in a meditation.

"What is happening here?" evil Naruto asked.

"He locked himself inside. I can't go near it. It was designed so that my chakra could leak but my hatred could not." The Kyubi growled at Naruto. "This little shit escaped my chakra barrier and went inside the cell. He hasn't move since then."

"I have difficulty moving outside. When I am about to kill, my body moves on its own and shifts my aim so that I will avoid killing the opponent. Do you think he is doing it?"

The Kyubi stared at him incredulously. "He can do that? Don't say…"

"Would I complain here without a grave reason? You're really an idiot, do you know that? If you know something about it, tell me."

"There was a legendary technique created by The First generations ago. He had a dual personality and his other self was really troublesome. He used the technique to control his body from the inside. What I think the little shit is doing is incorporating his old self in the part of your brain that decides in battle. He is bridging that area to the area of instincts so you won't be able to avoid it whatever you do. He will not let you kill if the enemy doesn't meet his criteria. What I know of Naruto, if he still finds hope that the enemy has the capability to change his ways, he will give him a chance. He will only kill if the enemy is of pure evil like the two of us. That's his true self."

"That shit!" Evil Naruto marched up towards the cell.

"Stop. That cell will not allow the entrance of negative states of mind. Hatred, envy, greed, fear, deception, lust, isolation, pride, and filth. The cell is designed to imprison the Nine Beastly Nature of the human race. You will not be able to enter. You will be destroyed."

Evil Naruto was quiet for a while. The Kyubi watched him as he thought to himself. Then, he smirked. Then laughed. Then made it louder like a lunatic. "I see. It's not bad at all. By leaving them half dead, they will appreciate death more. They will be able to smell their own rotting flesh behind their masks. They will suffer because of their own transgressions. I'm kind, am I not? I will be giving them time to grieve and regret their sins. This is _very_ interesting." He chuckled. "The villagers will be in my way if I can't kill them. We must demand their evacuation."

"This is not what I've expected. I didn't know that this little shit had become so powerful."

"We are destined to have the world. Of course, we are powerful."

"What will you do?"

"First, I will incapacitate the most dangerous shinobi in this village. Shikamaru. From then on, everything will be easy."

"The Ultimate Strategist, eh?"

"Despite lacking in shinobi skills, he's the only shinobi I haven't able to defeat, yet."

"And you to him."

"He's not that good. If I don't allow him the chance to think…"

…

Using a transmitter he had plucked out from an ANBU's vest, Naruto called Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! What's happening here? The ANBU team…the ANBU team has been annihilated!"

"What?"

"Come here, quick! There are two assassins here. They're both dead, now. I think they were trying to kill me. The ANBUs must have taken care of them."

"Okay. I'll summon an emergency team first. I'm on my way."

Shikamaru arrived after ten minutes. He immediately knelt and examined an injured ANBU on the ground. Naruto stood beside him.

Shikamaru frowned. He was thinking.

"So?" Naruto said. "What do you think?" Furtively, he pulled out a kunai from his pocket. "Where is the emergency team?"

"They're arriving any minute. But for the time being…" Shikamaru formed hand seals. "I'll have you stand still! Shadow Manipulation Technique!" Shadows crept onto Naruto's shadows. Naruto had a cynical expression on his face. Shikamaru stood up. "Did you think I wouldn't know what had made these injuries? What are you planning? If you convince me, I won't have to kill you."

Naruto was grinning. "But we are friends, right?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened in anger. His shadows crept and wrapped around Naruto's throat. "What are you planning?"

"This is not like you. I've expected that you would have a calm disposition while you faced me." The shadows put more pressure. His breathing whizzed. "I'll tell you, but how can I speak if your shadows are stifling my neck?" The pressure eased down. Naruto grinned. "This is what I plan on doing: I'll destroy the village!"

Suddenly, two ANBUs stood up from the ground. Shikamaru knew what was coming and fear surfaced on his face. The two ANBUs stabbed him from behind. Blood flowed out from his gaping mouth. The two ANBUs stabbed him ten times. Naruto, with his sickening grin not leaving his face, sauntered towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru managed to shot him a glare despite his condition.

"The other me—your friend—doesn't let me kill you," Naruto said.

"The other you?"

"So, I'll just make you my messenger." Naruto pulled out Shikamaru's tongue. He passed his index finger over the bloody muscle and an inscription appeared. "That's a bomb seal. If someone touches it, it will cut your tongue. After you've spoken a sentence in one breathing, it will cut your tongue. Choose your words carefully so that that single chance will not be wasted. I'll wait until eight this morning. I'll start my attack pronto when the second hand struck twelve whether the villagers are there or not. You have five hours left." He heard footsteps coming. "Here's your reinforcement." He turned around but stopped midway. "Before I forget, don't treat this as a joke _this _time. I've taken over the controls. I don't give a damn anymore. Your friend, the Hokage aspiring kid, is dead." The two ANBUs turned into smoke. Naruto vanished, but his piercing laughter remained in the air for a while.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

A song.

I wake up from my sudden slumber and am immediately apprehensive to where I have been taken. The walls are dark and moving, swirling like hot air, twisting in every direction and have colors which purple is lightest. I reach out and it shrinks away from me, away from my trembling fingers. I reach out and it swirls angrily as if rebuke is its own way of defense. I call out for someone and my own voice calls back. I yell as loud as I can and my voice yells back as many as it can until its volume diminishes to that of a whisper. I want to feel fear, but my brain seems to deny it. I want to feel pain, but my body is indifferent to it. To depend on my memory to have the slightest enlightenment is a foolish attempt. I am detached.

I touch where my heart is and let my hand listen. My hand must be deaf or my heart is in rebellion for it does not let the smallest of sounds to make my hand know that it is still alive. I know I should fear it, but I do not fear it. I force myself to feel relief, but I do not remember how it feels like. I do not understand, but somehow I do. I do not care to ask if my existence in this place is not an illusion of mine. I do not care to ask if I will have tomorrow or if I have a yesterday to remember. Nothing matters but what I see. The sounds have ceased to be. What I see is the truth even though I do not know why I am sure it is. I do not care.

My feet are standing on a ground that seems to sink every now and then. But I do not fall. The ground has an endless darkness, an infinite distance it is traveling on its own. But I do not fall. I try to do something with my face, move my lips maybe. It is done, I understand, to show relief if something is going well for you. But relief is only a word now. I do not know how it feels. I stop.

I see how my hands tremble. I look down and I see drops of liquid crystals get trapped on my palms. One trembling hand I raised up to touch my cheek. It is wet. I do not know, even though I am sure that I already know, how to call this act that makes it wet. I feel that it is something important, something I often do, but I do not remember its name. I know I should feel something after I have realized something like this. What? I do not care. It is not important. My cheek is wet and I do not care.

A name.

Is not important. In this world I realize that only what I see is important. I do not remember some things. I do not care. I know I know, but I do not care. My name is not important. The name of what makes my cheek wet is not important. The name of what I understand is made to show relief is not important. I am devoid of recollections about things that I realize not important in this world. All my existence is telling me is to find the reason why I am here.

A light.

I blink at its sudden appearance. It is closing in and beckoning me. I feel I cannot move. I try to move my foot. It does. When I look up, the blinding light is in front of me. It eats me up. The darkness is gone. Brightness is everywhere. I close my eyes. I open them. I do not want to, but I close them again. I jump. I sigh. I fall. A sudden surge.

I remember.

…

The obscured frames that Ino had resealed began clearing one by one, bit by bit.

…

The sun was setting and the insects were beginning to serenade the silence. Sakura was thinking of making mushroom soup for Naruto. She was planning to surprise him. She found a large tree that was illuminated by fireflies. Growing from its exposed roots was a clump of edible mushrooms. She smiled and went to it.

The fireflies seemed to sense that the lady under them was a gentle one. One by one they hovered around her, illuminating the surrounding so she could see more easily. Sakura thanked them as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She resumed picking mushrooms.

Not far away from where she was, she heard little squeaks. She looked up in the direction where it was coming from. She found two mating rabbits. She couldn't stop laughing. The rabbits, jittery as always, perked their ears and ran away. She laughed louder. When she recovered, she moved to another exposed root and resumed her harvest.

A few minutes hunkering down, she noticed an orange glow. Intrigued, she stood up and stared at the glowing orb for a while. She suddenly felt nervous. Could it be a spirit orb? She began backing away when she realized that the orange glow was not moving. She steeled herself. No harm in trying. She walked towards the orb with the most cautious manner she knew. When she was inches away, she realized that the glow was coming from a flower.

The orange orb was like flame. Small particles of dust floated around it. Pollen grains. Sakura was interested and squatted before the flower to have a closer look. It looked more like a dome coral in closer inspection. It had convoluted head like that of a cauliflower but as large as a fist. The glow was coming from inside. She knew about this. As a medical ninja, she had learned the principle about bioluminescence. When oxygen combines with a substance in the organism called luciferin in the presence of an enzyme called luciferase, light is emitted. She never thought she could find a flower like this in the forest. She leaned closer to inspect the inside. It was like a flame, but it emitted no heat. Her head slowly came closer to the flower. She was being drawn by the cold light.

She would not have noticed that she was kissing the flower if a bird didn't flap its wings. However, before she could pull away, the glowing flower opened at the center and released a fragrant smell. She felt dizzy. She sat on the ground and massaged her head. As she did this, the flower began to wither. First, the glow went weaker and weaker until it completely disappeared. Then, its convoluted head started shrinking upon itself. It dried up. In the end, the flower fell to the ground. The seed was inside that dried ball. The outer skin would rot until the small red seed touched the ground and grow into another flower.

Sakura stood up, her head still light. She walked towards the tree and leaned on its trunk, collecting herself. Sweat broke from her forehead and forearm. Not only did she have a light headache, she also felt strange. Her throat felt dry and her heart was erratic. She filled her lungs with air, stayed that way for fifteen seconds, and then breathed out. That allayed the headache a little, but the strange feeling stayed there. The fireflies seemed concerned because they clung on her, as if trying to calm her down. If they could only talk, she would be glad to talk with them. But they could not. She sighed. It couldn't be helped. She steeled herself and started away, forgetting the basket of mushroom on the ground.

She arrived at the campsite. She was staggering. Sasuke, who was sitting on a log, waiting for the rice to boil, saw her and immediately went to her.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Sasuke said.

"I don't know. There was a flower. It released this smell. I felt dizzy after that."

"Come here. Have a seat." Sasuke put his arms around her shoulders to support her. Sakura gasped. He frowned, "What's wrong?"

Sakura was pushing Sasuke's arm away. "I'm okay. I can walk."

Sasuke held her elbow. She gasped again. "What's wrong?" he said. Sakura stepped away and rubbed at her elbow as if some hairy spider had been there. "What's going on with you?" He noticed her blush. "Do you have a fever?"

"No, no. I'm fine. It's okay." She went to the fire in a roundabout route, keeping her distance from Sasuke.

Sasuke, confused, turned around and inspected himself. He raised his arm a little and stealthily sniffed his underarm. Assuring himself that there was nothing wrong, he turned to Sakura. He approached the log where Sakura was. She was sitting on the leftmost edge. He decided to sit on the rightmost. They looked like lovers who had just had a fight. Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Did you find the mushrooms?" he asked.

Sakura was repeatedly shaking her legs, the one that is done by someone who is getting anxious because her date has not arrived, yet. The action sent trembles through the log. "I forgot it. There at the tree. I don't want to go there." She gasped. "Could you get them for me? Just walk straight. I gathered many." She gasped twice this time.

Sasuke, concern all over his face, stood in front of Sakura. He held her shoulders. "Hey, Sakura, what's happening to you? Did—"

Sakura pulled him into a kiss. Sasuke's eyes widened. He pushed Sakura and wiped his lips with his hand. Sakura lunged at him.

"What are you doing? Stop this!" Sasuke demanded.

"I can't take it, anymore, Naruto! Let's do it, now!"

"Sakura, I am Sasuke! Shit!" Sasuke turned to go to the forest, believing that a ninja or someone must have done this to Sakura.

Sakura pulled him down to the ground, beside her red tent. "I want you, Naruto! Let me, let me, let me, let me!" She ripped Sasuke's belt.

Sasuke tried to get up. "Stop it! What's going on with you?" He pushed her shoulders, but she was strong. She was manipulating her chakras deftly from muscle to muscle. He was like the woman between them. He looked away to avoid her lips. "Stop this! Naruto will arrive any minute!"

"I don't care! You just let me!" Sakura punched Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke coughed up trapped air. She grabbed the opportunity and attacked his open mouth. Sasuke was suffocating. She ignored this and took off her clothes.

Sasuke let her do what she wanted to gather his strength. He willed himself not to be carried away. The cicadas were chirping in the distance. The wind ruffled the leaves of the trees. A stick broke somewhere. Must be an animal. Something bigger than a rabbit. He ignored it. Before Sakura could lose her virginity and ruin her life, he called her name.

"Sakura…" Sakura looked into his eyes as if she couldn't help it. His pupils were in their Mangekyo Sharingan form. "Sharingan Art: Dark Slumber." Sakura fell over him. He could feel all her weight. She was unconscious. He looked over his nose at her pink hair. The wind was playing with it. He sighed. "What happened to you, Sakura?" he muttered.

…

Sakura woke up inside her tent. Her head was aching. "Sasuke? Naruto?" She sat up. Sasuke lifted up the flap of her tent and went in with a basin of water.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. He put the basin beside her futon, crossed his legs, and sat down.

"My head is splitting in two. What happened?"

"You fainted."

"When? Where?"

"You were in the forest. I found you beside a tree."

"Oh, yes! The mushrooms!"

"I've cleaned them up. I'm boiling them, now. Here's some water for you to wash your face."

"Where is Naruto?"

"He's not here, yet."

"Has he called you?"

"I can't reach him. Don't worry. He will call. If he doesn't, I'll go search for him."

"Help me up. I want to make a mushroom soup for him."

"Are you sure?"

"The headache is fading. Please. I need to finish it before he arrives." She gave her hand to Sasuke. Sasuke stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Thanks."

"Sure."

Sakura went to the entrance. Before she could step outside, she stopped. She turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun, I want to tell you something."

"That you love Naruto? I've known for a long time."

"You're not angry?"

"I don't have a reason. You will look good as a couple." He offered a sweet smile.

"I'm planning to confess to him during this mission. Would you help me?"

"Anyway I can."

Sakura beamed. It was as if the sun had gone back to the sky. "Thank you."

…

Sasuke had told Sakura that he would patrol the surrounding for a bit. He glimpsed at the moon. The stream reflected the silvery light coming from it. He stared at it for a while and sighed. He lowered his stance a little and formed fourteen hand seals, the same seals Ino had made inside Sakura's room. "Mind Manipulation Technique: Consciousness Trespass!"

He opened his eyes and found himself inside his mind. There was a long hallway with doors on both sides extending into infinity. He walked and counted. He stopped at the fifth door. The sign on top read: Recently Acquired. He turned the knob and entered in. His frames were unique—more organized and had an expanded capacity. This was because he meditated everyday and kept his mind neat. He had the habit of disposing of unwanted and unnecessary memories. Learning Mind Manipulation Techniques had been a big help. He made use of them to build rooms in which he kept facts and ideas in an organized manner. He had a room for Water Ninjutsu, Puppet Ninjutsu, Western Taijutsu, and others. He had a room for Languages, Dates, and Names. The biggest room he had built was for his Sharingan Arts. And now he would use one to destroy some unwanted memories he wouldn't want occurring to him in the future.

The frames in front of him were stack neatly in rows. Each rows contained a piece of his past that would last for a minute. He put a paper bomb on the stack that showed his previous encounter with Sakura. Then another on a particular frame where she confirmed to him her feelings for Naruto. After doing that, he went to the room which sign read: About Friends. He went in and put a paper bomb on a particular frame that contained the minute when he had realized that Sakura loved Naruto. He went out without a moment of hesitation. He formed the Tiger Seal. "Explode."

He started but was able to stop himself, instantly. He was breathing hard. He remembered that he had just destroyed some of his memories. He didn't remember what as if he was yet to experience those destroyed events. He was relieved. Even if he was subjected to torture, he would never be able to tell what they were.

He came back and arrived on Sakura staring at the pot of mushroom soup.

"Sakura?"

"He's not back, yet. I'm worried."

"Okay. Wait here. I'll look around."

Sakura nodded. But neither Sasuke nor Naruto returned that night. She didn't sleep.

Naruto came back first. The sun was just rising. She stood up from the log and hid her anxiety. She put on an expression she thought would make her look angry. Naruto didn't even glance at her.

"Where is he?" he asked.

_What kind of tone is that?_ "He's gone searching for you! Where have you been?"

"I just stayed for a while. I got a feeling that they would show up. They didn't."

"Why didn't you tell us first? Is it hard to return here, report what you saw, and tell us that you have this intuition so you're planning on returning there to observe a little more?"

Naruto didn't answer. But that was not the problem. He was looking at her as if she had done something unforgivable. _Why do you look at me like that?_ Naruto frowned. She frowned back.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I haven't had any sleep. I think I'll have a nap."

_Do you think I had any? _She grabbed his collar. "Before that, you eat first." She pointed at the pot of mushroom soup. She had heated it earlier. He harshly parried her hand away and threw her a baleful look that made her wince. She shot him an inquiring look, but he didn't have the time to look back. He went in his tent. Mad at his behavior, she kicked the pot, spilling the mushrooms she had patiently cooked and waited with until morning for the ungrateful man's arrival.

…

"What's her status?" Tsunade said. A nurse was beside her. Her face was still wrinkly but every second one wrinkle disappeared. It was a sight to behold.

The old healer, Kazue, looked up from the microscope she had been peering through. "The girl is all right. Come here. This is more important for you to see."

Tsunade still checked on Sakura for good measure. Then, she went beside Kazue. "What is it?" Kazue gestured her to look herself. Tsunade peered through the microscope.

"I believe that those are bacteria called Orculum," Kazue said. "They were mixed with Sakura's blood." Tsunade looked at her with alarm. "Yes. She might have encountered an animal carrying the bacteria or the actual flower that serves as their habitat. The Flower of the Flame—Auras."

"How did you discover this?"

"I was having my coffee break when I saw a mouse licking some blood on the floor. Since there was no other case today with blood spillage other than hers, I concluded that the drop of blood was Sakura's. After a few seconds, I heard the mouse squeak loudly and repeatedly until one mouse—a male—came out. The mouse chased the male mouse. They ran around for a little while. When both stopped, they coupled. I was intrigued with the behavior of the mice so I got a sample of Sakura's blood and examined it. This is what I found."

Things occurred to Tsunade one after the other. She put one hand over her head and chanted, "Sakura, Sakura, Sakura…Naruto! He avoided Sakura and Sasuke for a week. Kakashi said Sakura had been sleeping with Naruto. Naruto hated it. He hated it because he had a reason to hate it. The mission, the Orculum…Auras…" She seemed to realize it.

The Flower of the Flame is one of the Four Legendary Flowers that have unparalleled capabilities. The Flower of the Ice, which only grows in winter when the earth tilts about a degree from its axis that only happens every ten years, can heal illnesses that ordinary means cannot. The Flower of the Wind, which grows from the talons of Great Eagles that are believed to have been extinct for years now, can regenerate lost body parts. The Flower of the Earth, which grows in soils overflowing with dark chakras that can only be found in the Snake Pit Village, the village where only ninjas who know the forbidden technique "Hell Gate Opener" and have the ability like Kakashi to manipulate dimensions can enter, is said to have the most potent poison that could make a fertile land a desert in two days. Then the Flower of the Flame, which grows only in the most fertile soils and has the Orculum bacteria as its defensive mechanism, can cure psychological conditions (with the aid of an expert), inborn or acquired. The Orculum bacteria act as rabies, which attack the central nervous system of the patient. On the other hand, the Orculum attacks the hypothalamus to make the body produce sex hormones in unregulated quantity, forcing the victim to feel intense arousal. Also, the Orculum upset the flow of chakra in the way you upset the chakra flow of your opponent who you want to use a Genjutsu on. The victim will then see the face of the person he or she wants to couple with and will force intercourse to anyone with the nearest resemblance. The Flower of the Flame has protected its existence like this for several thousand years now.

"Tsunade?" Tsunade looked at Kazue, abruptly. Kazue shrank away. "What's the problem?"

"No. No! It can't be! They couldn't do it in front of him!" Tsunade leaned on the edge of the examination table, staring hard on the floor.

"Tsunade, are you all right?"

Before she could answer, a panting nurse came running inside. "Master Tsunade, Master Kazue, there has been an attack!"

The two women said, "What?"

"The medical team that was requested by Shikamaru-sensei just a while ago has brought in two dead outsiders and sixteen wounded shinobis including Shikamaru-sensei. Shikamaru-sensei wanted to talk with you. He seemed to avoid opening his mouth, but he wanted to talk with you."

Tsunade ran outside. She saw Shikamaru on a gurney. She walked alongside him as the medical personnel rolled him on. They entered the Operating Room. Tsunade couldn't believe that his smartest shinobi had been outsmarted. But it was not important at the moment. Shikamaru had multiple stab wounds. There were two on each of his arms. He would not be able to write. Tsunade looked at him. He beckoned her with the slightest of nods he could manage. Tsunade understood that he was trying to tell her to come closer. She leaned in.

Shikamaru whispered, "Evacuate the villagers because someone will destroy the village at eight in the morning!" The gap was created. It was the short moment when oxygen ceased to exist in his mouth. The bomb seal activated. He was too late to close his mouth. He sprayed blood all over Tsunade's face. Then he fainted.

Tsunade fought to calm herself down. Her diaphragm had locked itself and refused to move. If Kazue didn't call out to her, she might have also fainted.

"Get a grip of yourself!" Kazue said. Her courage was obviously a pretense. "This is an emergency!"

Tsunade gathered herself up. She stood there for a moment, and then suddenly punched her side. Kazue gaped. Tsunade breathed repeatedly. "Okay. Come with me."

When Tsunade came out of the room, her commanders were already waiting for her: Neji—his hair braided around his head, Lee—his usual green suit tight around his chiseled body, Tenten—still pretty even though in her Eastern Style blue fighting clothes, and Sasuke—he was grim and had the expression that he was prepared to kill.

"Who attacked?" Neji asked.

"Someone put a bomb seal on Shikamaru's tongue—" she heard Tenten gasp, "—and since he cannot speak anymore, all I know is someone will attack the village at eight this morning. Whether this threat is true or not, let's start with the evacuation, immediately."

"You're position will be in danger if you continue on directing orders, knowing that your suspension from power is still on effect," Kakashi said, appearing behind her. "Let me take care of this. You just tend to the wounded."

"I don't give a damn about those faggots!"

"But we give a damn about you," Kakashi said. Tsunade stared at him. "Don't be careless, now." He turned to his subordinates. "Let's go. We don't have much time."

…

On top of Konoha's obelisk, which was in the center of the village, the highest point in Konoha, Naruto watched the commotion happening below: children crying, old people stumbling, women pale in fear, and men rushing everywhere. He sneered. "Look how spoiled you shits are! You were not like this before." He looked at the dark sky. "Sun, sun, wherever you are. When the fuck will you show up? It's hard controlling this itch."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

"How is it going?" Kakashi asked. They were in the middle of the commotion. He could see the confused expression on the faces of the people. He was speaking with a male Jonin who was overseeing the evacuation.

"It's no use. It has been hard to make the people go. They are surprised and are against leaving their houses. Up until now, only twenty percent of the total population has evacuated. The immigrants are asking for an explanation."

An old man stumbled near them. Kakashi immediately ran for the old man and helped him up.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi said.

"Why is this happening? Who will attack the village? Naruto-sensei will fight for us, right?"

"Yes. I assure you that."

The old man beamed and nodded. "Tell Naruto-sensei for me to beat them up! And also to be very careful."

"Okay."

The old man grinned. He held Kakashi with one weak hand. "You, too, Kakashi-sensei and the others." The old man walked away, fixing the luggage on his back with a jerk of the shoulder.

Kakashi went back to the male Jonin. "How about the area near the gate?"

"It's fortunate that the people living in that area are original inhabitants of Konoha. It's almost completely deserted."

Kakashi nodded. "How's the patrol?"

"We haven't found any trace of the enemy, yet. How about those injured ANBUs? Didn't they tell you who attacked them?"

"Everyone is in critical condition. We have been fortunate enough that the enemy has given us a chance to take the villagers to safety. Anyway, it can't be helped if some of the villagers don't listen. Concentrate on those who'd listen. I'm sure that if they find out they are being left behind, they will follow."

"Roger." The male Jonin disappeared.

…

Naruto stood up on the top of the obelisk. He looked to his right. He looked to his left and grimaced. _Man, this is too slow. Let's see. Maybe they are hesitating because it's too sudden. Okay. Let me demonstrate. _He looked around._ There it is!_ He had found that the area near the gate was almost deserted. He leaped down to a roof and then leaped off to another and another until he reached one house. He could see the large gate. He had made sure that no one would notice him. With incredible hand speed, he bit his right thumb and formed seven hand seals. "Summoning Technique: Gargalunta!"

The house in front of him suddenly sank down. A large fish had just emerged from the ground and ate it. The loud noise made the heads turn in the direction of the collapse. Naruto grinned. _See? I'm serious. Anyway, this is fun!_ He created a shadow clone and in no time conjured up a large Rasengan which he held over his head. He jumped towards the house across and smashed the large Rasengan against it. The house exploded into debris, leaving a large crater on the ground. _Man, this is awesome!_ The people were now rushing, eyes wide and sweating, trying to run away as far as they could from the location of the explosion. _Good. Maybe that's enough for now. If I let them find me now, there is a chance that I might encounter an innocent villager and the little shit inside of me will stop me again from having my fun._ With that he disappeared.

…

A drop of sweat crept down on Neji's left cheek. He was looking in the direction of the explosion using his Byakugan. "I can't believe it," he muttered. "This is impossible."

"What did you see?" Lee asked.

Neji glanced at him and then back at the ruins again as if the scene might change the second time he looked. "Naruto has destroyed those houses."

"Naruto? You mean _Naruto_?"

Neji nodded.

"That can't be! He will never do that!"

"No. I saw how he did it. A summoning and a large Rasengan."

"He must have a reason." Lee paused to think. "That's it! Maybe he was concerned that the evacuation is too slow. Maybe he just wanted to boost it a little by scaring the villagers."

"It could be like that." Neji was not convinced. _No. Something is wrong. He was smiling. Why would he smile if he knew he was destroying not only a house but a home? There was even no trace of remorse on his face._ He recalled the appearance of the wounds inflicted on the ANBUs. _Shit! Why didn't I realize it? _"Lee, this might sound absurd, but I think Naruto was the culprit."

"What? Are you kidding me? That's not only absurd, it's crazy!"

"But think about it. Shikamaru told us that he had confined Naruto in his family's private park, and Naruto was being guarded by ANBUs. A team of ANBU that large is impossible to annihilate by just anyone. I can't have any other conclusion."

Lee didn't speak for a few moments. Then he looked at Neji. "Why do you think he would do that?"

"I don't know the answer to that, but we better consider every possibility. Naruto has been acting strange these past few days. Let's tell this to Kakashi-sensei."

Lee nodded. "Okay."

After jumping from a roof then to another, Neji spotted Kakashi. He leaped down to the ground. "Kakashi-sensei." He looked around. There were villagers that might hear what he would say. He pulled Kakashi aside, out of earshot of everyone. "Kakashi-sensei, I saw who did it. It was Naruto."

"Naruto? Are you sure it was not someone else?"

"Impossible. My Byakugan was at full focus. It was him, I swear."

"Shit." Kakashi drew in some air. "Where is he, now?"

"He's gone. I don't know where. I was talking to Lee—" He glanced over his shoulder to where Lee should be standing. He didn't find him. He turned around. "Lee?"

"You were alone."

"What?" He realized the obvious. "No. He must have chased after Naruto. I'll go look for him. It would be dangerous if it was really Naruto we would be going against."

"Stop. What we should be doing now is prioritizing the evacuation of the villagers. He knows what he is doing. Here's the plan. From the gate up, we will position skilled Jonins at specific spots to engage the enemy. They will serve as a layered shield so that it will be hard for the enemy to reach the escaping villagers. Tell the Jonins at your command to position themselves at locations that are already clear of people. I'll direct the other commanders."

"I understand." He looked in the direction of the gate. _Lee, what the fuck are you doing?_

…

Naruto was walking towards a hill when the ground exploded ten meters in front of him. He calmly regarded the swirling dust. When it cleared, he saw Lee crouching on the ground. Lee slowly got up as if preparing himself how he would react if Naruto affirmed his rebellion toward Konoha.

"Naruto."

"Hello." Naruto grinned.

"Why did you destroy the houses?"

"Oh. Someone saw me?"

"I'm asking you a question."

Naruto shrugged. "Yes. The evacuation was slow so—" _Wait! This is my chance to fell one troublesome opponent. _"I felt like it."

"What? Are you serious? If you're humoring me, I'm not in the mood."

"It's true, Lee. I was the one who attacked the ANBUs and Shikamaru. I was the one who destroyed those shanties."

Lee bowed his head and stayed quiet for a while.

"It was a bad idea to face me alone. How did you find me, anyway?" Naruto said. Two shadow clones were running silently now towards Lee from behind, carrying each a Rasengan. "If you don't want to answer, it's okay. It's not important."

"Rasengan!" the two clones blurted out.

Lee simply made one step backwards, caught the wrists of the attacking Naruto clones, and threw them to the ground. The clones grunted but didn't turn to smoke. Lee pulled them and hurled them up to the air. As the clones fell down, he jumped, flipped, and put a heel in each of the clones' stomachs. This time the clones dispersed into smoke. He dropped on the ground standing.

"It is normal to every Taijutsu specialist to master every part of his body," Lee said. "I can focus my eyes to see things five hundred meters away from me. It's weaker than the Byakugan, but my range was enough to spot you."

"Oh, so that's it."

"I don't know your reasons, but I'm telling you that you made me mad. I won't let you get away." Lee put his left fist behind his lower back and raised his hand palm up like a blade in front of his body. "If I have to beat you up to make you realize how foolish this rebellion of yours is, I'll be glad to do it."

Naruto stretched his arms above his head. "You'll do for warm up."

Lee disappeared and reappeared behind Naruto. Lee was about to hit him but saw that there were bomb tags on his back. Naruto exploded. Lee avoided the explosion and landed meters away from it. Two clones with Rasengans were coming at him from both sides now. Almost as if he had created his own clones, which he would never be able to do, he used his incredible speed to send the clones flying at almost the same time. He returned to his original position as if nothing had happened. Naruto was not relenting. "Earth Release: Crocodile Jaws!" Spires of earth jutted up from under Lee. Lee hastily moved away only to be met by Sakura with a kunai in midair. Lee, now in his serious mode, didn't buy the ruse. He put his arms around Sakura and let himself drop head first. He then spun his body until their entwined bodies was like a tornado. "Konoha Comet Crush!" The impact the technique brought caused a massive explosion, leaving a large crater on the ground. Lee heard, "Great Ball Rasengan Rapid Fire!" He looked up and saw large balls of spinning chakras falling towards him. There were fourteen consecutive explosions.

…

Neji couldn't ignore this anymore. "I'll go check that out."

"I'm coming with you," Tenten said.

"No," Kakashi said. "There are still many villagers to be evacuated. Sasuke, Tenten, you stay with me."

Neji was off.

…

Naruto waited until the dust cleared. "I know you're still alive. I haven't broken a sweat, yet."

Lee was standing a few meters from him, unharmed. "That was a powerful combinations attack. I could have died."

"I'm not yet serious."

"So am I." Lee pulled out the weights from his legs and threw them away. Each caused explosions showing how heavy they were. He then took off his wristbands and dropped it. The wristbands made a deep impression on the ground. Lastly, he took off his belt and tossed it to a tree. The tree bent to its weight and was uprooted eventually. Lee bounced on his toes and disappeared. He reappeared in front of Naruto, his fist touching Naruto's stomach. "Konoha Devastator."

It happened. The patch of land behind Naruto burst out into chunks of dirt plowed by Lee's force. The two large boulders in line with Lee's fist were both blown off into dust. Naruto coughed up blood and knelt at Lee's feet.

"If you're thinking that you are the most powerful in Konoha, think again. Everyone has already improved and is infinitely stronger now than before."

"Finish me off, Lee, I'm begging you," Naruto said. His voice was sincere. Then he suddenly laughed. "You are forgetting something important, Lee."

Lee put a knee on Naruto's face. Without pause he kicked Naruto in the stomach using the same leg, lifting Naruto's body in the air. "Konoha Hurricane!" Lee kicked Naruto repeatedly from beneath sending him higher and higher in the air. As Naruto began to fall, Lee spun and kicked him sideways. Now, using a technique that only he among Konoha's best had learned to do, Lee propelled himself towards the flying body of Naruto by a kick in the air. It was as if air was solid. Once he caught Naruto he brought down an axe kick on Naruto's stomach, sending Naruto's body crashing to the ground. He was not finished, yet. He curled his legs behind his thighs so that his knees aimed at Naruto on the ground and let himself drop. "Konoha Deep Impact!" He was like a bomb when he connected, making yet another explosion. Naruto should have been seriously injured, but he seemed fine. He was grinning at Lee. As Lee contemplated Naruto, the head of the Demon Fox shot out from Naruto's chest and attempted to bite him. Lee hastily dodged and made distance.

"I'm—kill me—a container and a—kill me, please—a Sage. Your attacks—kill me—will never—kill me—shut up, you stupid son of a bitch!" The whites on Naruto's eyes turned to black and his irises turned to red. His fangs also showed their tips from the corner of his mouth. Red strips materialized from around his eyes and extended down to his chin—his Sage marks. "Stupid. Stupid. What the fuck is wrong with you?" He caught himself. "Sorry. Don't mind me. Well, as I was saying, let's make this brief." He formed twelve consecutive seals. "Shadow Clone Technique: Army of the Revolution!" Clones appeared. A hundred, five hundred, a thousand, two thousand, five thousand. Lee grew apprehensive. "I was a bit miffed when you compared your shitty abilities to mine. I'm the most powerful, asshole. That will never change. These clones of mine are refined. They each contain the Fox's chakra. If you don't hit them fatally, you will never make them disappear. Now, let me give a brief explanation why I am feared. It's because I have the ability to destroy a village by myself."

When Neji arrived on the scene, he was already too late. Naruto was holding an unconscious Lee by the neck.

"Lee!" Neji blurted out. Then in a cynical voice, "Naruto?"

Naruto grinned at him. "Howdy. You're late. What happened to you?" He threw Lee's body away. "Kill me—now let's have some fun."

…

Greg Shinar knocked at the door of Natsuna's house. A maid opened for him. The maid seemed to understand the presence of two ANBUs at his back. He was also carrying some thick folders.

"I want to talk with Natsuna-san," Shinar said.

"Of course, Sir. Come in." The maid stepped aside to let the guests in. She then took them to Yumi's office. "Yumi-sama, Shinar-sama is here to talk with you."

"Let them in," said Yumi. When the door opened and she saw Shinar, she greeted him warmly. "Hello, Shinar-baby." Her smile suddenly faded when she saw the two ANBUs. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to place you under arrest," Shinar said, grimly.

"What?" An eyelid twitched. "Are you kidding me?"

"We caught the messenger that you had sent to hire two assassins to kill Uzumaki-kun. He already confessed."

"This is not the time for that. Look outside. Konoha is in a dire situation. Besides, are you sure you are not—someone is framing me up? I'm a politician. This happens all the time."

"If you'll not admit to that, I have another for you. Treason."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" She started to pace around. "Treason? For goodness' sake, where is this coming from?"

Shinar tossed two folders marked "Confidential" on her desk. "Each contains important information your department has been keeping from me. I only had my hands on these yesterday. One tells the true location of Kabuto's hideout. It is not at the Valley of the Bones. That was just false rumor. His last sighting was in Shura, as the information says here. This is dated four months ago. The other tells the location of the rare flower Auras. Now, this is at the Valley of the Bones. Your department has had this information for six months now, but never—never—have I known about this."

"You're charging me with treason for that? I only hid those because those haven't been confirmed, yet."

Shinar tossed another folder. "This contains your suspicious contact with Haruno Sakura three months before her team's mission. When Haruno-kun wakes up, we can confirm it with her. Then—" he tossed another folder "—this contains the detailed program for the last mission of Team 7."

"What do these have to do with anything?"

"You set this up, Natsuna-san, this whole ordeal. You used the Auras, Naruto-kun and Sakura-kun's feelings for each other, and their friendship with Sasuke to break Naruto's heart so that you could get rid of him. You set Sasuke-kun and Sakura-kun to make love in front of Naruto. You knew that one way or the other something like this would happen. Everything had been planned meticulously by you."

Yumi let out a dry laugh. "You just want someone to blame because you think that Naruto is perfect, that he _can't _be evil by himself."

Shinar raised an eyebrow. "When did I say that Naruto has become evil?"

Yumi went to her chair and sat down. She forced a smile. "I'll give you this chance to explain yourself before I charge you with slander."

Shinar went to a chair in front of her desk and sat down. "I've been observing your movements for a long time now as I've been doing to newly elected officials ever since I became the Chief of Department of Interior Government. I became suspicious of you when you chose Team 7 for the surveillance mission even though Team 10, Team 22, and Team 23 were available. Team 7 specializes on dangerous missions like assaults and escorting, all considered Class A and up. This last mission they took in the Country of Sound is the first surveillance mission they ever had. Because you hid the true information on Kabuto, we agreed to proceed with the mission. But because we have no jurisdiction over what team to be sent, we couldn't argue against sending Team 7 for a Class B mission on reconnaissance."

"I just wanted to give them the experience."

"Don't bullshit me! There was really no mission at all because Kabuto's hideout was not really there! In addition, even if the information was true, you sent Team 7 out of all the teams available. You sent Team 22, which was the one that specializes on espionage and reconnaissance, for a Class S assault mission instead of Team 7. Sahara-kun was killed in that assault mission so don't tell me that you just wanted to give Team 7 the experience even though you knew that Team 7 should have been the _proper_ choice for the Class S mission! But it's not important now. The fact that you hid the information about Kabuto from us to be able to send a team for a mock mission is enough to indict you for sabotage." Yumi kept quiet. "I investigated everything that concerns the mission. When I found the document about Kabuto's current hideout, it concluded everything. This is what I deducted. You learned about Sakura-kun's feelings for Naruto-kun and vice versa through spying on them. You befriended Sakura-kun and established yourself as someone who was experienced about relationships, giving her tips about how she would get Naruto's attention. That explains your frequent meeting with Sakura-kun. You succeeded in that. The proof is when Sakura-kun gave you a present for your birthday, which few people know about. When you assured yourself that Sakura-kun trusted you enough, you sent them on that mock mission to the Valley of the Bones, where The Flower of the Flame Auras was located. To make sure that Sakura-kun found the Auras, you gave them a detailed map that pinpointed the location where they should encamp. Basing on the information about the location of the Auras that you kept from me, the location of their encampment is not more than a hundred meters away from the flower."

"It's not enough proof that I planned for Sakura to find the flower. She had no reason to look for it. If you're thinking that I might have told her that the flower had the magic to make any man fall for her, don't you think she might have known that I was lying and I had an ulterior motive? Please, Shinar-_san_, let's stop this. You're making an unbelievable assumption. Sakura is too intelligent to be fooled that way."

"_If _you told her. But, no. You're not that shallow. I know the trick that you used. The Auras always grows near the tree named Dumas, the Tree of the Fireflies, and from its exposed roots grow the most delicious mushrooms in the world, the Cuddlings."

Yumi snorted. "You're straying from the subject, Shinar-san."

"Am I? We both are good actors, Natsuna-san, and excellent liars. I know what you did. You suggested to Sakura that Naruto would love roasted Cuddlings, or Cuddlings soup, innocent enough not to attract any suspicion. You knew exactly that she wouldn't ignore the flower. One glance is enough for any person who is not blind to notice and get drawn to the flower. Sakura is a curious girl. She wants to know about things. I had experienced that first hand because I was once her professor in Interrogation. She _will_ not ignore anything that is new to her. You used that personality of hers for your plan."

"Okay. Let's say that she finds the flower. The flower releases its bacteria on her. She is aroused. Now, you said that I planned on making Sakura couple with Sasuke. How the hell can I know that Sasuke is there waiting for her? He might go somewhere. Gather some fire woods or wild berries maybe. Or he is with Naruto on surveillance—the most probable scenario. Who the hell will Sakura partner with? A squirrel?"

"That's what the schedule was all about. You proposed that they went one at a time."

Yumi stood up. "Are you kidding me? Going one at a time is suicide even though you're only going for surveillance. It has been a rule that at least you go by pair. Being top ninjas, even if I, the Chief of the Department of Defense, propose something like that, they will not accept."

"In Sasuke-kun's report, he stated that the secondary objective of the mission was not met. According to the mission detail, the team shall carry with them a scroll with a Class A level of importance that is to be fetched by a messenger shinobi at the campsite. The messenger shinobi didn't come because there really was no messenger shinobi, right? You only added that extra objective so that they would not have any reason to refuse your proposed schedule. That way, one stayed to be the tent keeper, the one who would gather the basic needs like fire wood or fruits, one stayed to guard the scroll and wait for the messenger shinobi, and one went to carry out the actual mission. Sasuke will be waiting for her at the encampment no matter what because he cannot leave the scroll. Now, you might retort that it could have been Naruto not Sasuke that she had arrived on. But it's fairly easy to make up things like it is best for you to surprise him when he arrives from duty because these mushrooms, if freshly cooked, decrease fatigue dramatically. Since Sakura trusted you so much to even give you a birthday gift, she would have listened to any of your advice. I can think of a hundred ways to make someone who trusts me so much do something for me without showing my true intentions by using the right words."

Yumi shook her head. "It's not enough, Shinar-san. If Naruto is not there, the plan that you're accusing that I devised will be non-sense. Let's stop this, please. There are more important things to do."

Shinar smiled. "You sent someone to witness the whole scene so that if ever Naruto missed it, you could still show it to him by a mind technique." Shinar nodded at the ANBU on his left. The ANBU opened the door and the maid came in. "You sent Maki-san. There are only two people in Konoha that can destroy memories: Sasuke-kun and the prodigy Kuronoha-kun. Others can only seal them. I'm sure that that scene is still intact inside Maki-san's mind even though someone might have already sealed it."

Yumi's eyes widened. "No. Maki doesn't go out! She has never left me! Isn't it, Maki?" Maki looked away.

"My spy told me otherwise. The day Team 7 embarked for the mission, Maki-san left the village. Moreover, I can confirm it by 'Consciousness Trespass.'"

"Okay. Let's say that Naruto had truly witnessed the scene. How could I have been so sure that he would react as he had? He's a kind man. Since Sakura had feelings for Sasuke before, there is a possibility that he might understand and just ignore what he saw."

"That is the last piece of the puzzle. You know, as I do, that he had tamed the Demon Fox and he must maintain his pureness to keep the seal of hatred inside his heart. It all takes a small but powerful negative emotion to unseal that hatred. Yumi, you broke his heart. That's too powerful."

"Because he broke my heart, too!" She started to cry. "He broke my heart. I was the dream of all men in my old country. I'm intelligent. I'm wealthy, but all he cares about is that Sakura! I love him! I can give him everything he wants. He can _use _me! I can be a slave for him forever. But—" she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Natsuna-san." To his men, Shinar said, "Take her."

…


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Neji was having difficulty with the large quantity of Naruto clones he was fighting against. He had already called Kakashi to set up a monks' barrier at the center of the village. Somehow he knew that the inevitable would happen. He had a hunch that the situation would surely worsen.

Right now, he was using his Asura—an advanced defensive Hyuuga technique. He had created a twelve-armed chakra god, controlling it as his own body. In some ways, it was similar to Sasuke's Susanoo. The only difference was it used Jyuuken as its main artillery.

He was already reaching his limit, but Naruto was not giving him the chance to rest. He was being attacked by a constant barrage of Great Ball Rasengan. Three clones sprinted from the right. The Asura quickly attacked the clones' throat, heart, and spinal cord. One of these clones dropped a smoke screen before turning into smoke. Neji's Byakugan could only see the chakras now. Fifteen clones attacked him simultaneously with Rasenshuriken, the wind type Rasengan which had blades of winds that rotated around the Rasengan's swirling chakra ball. The Rasenshuriken was a double attack. So, when the Asura impaled them with its fingers, they turned into spherical tornados. The rapid acceleration of the tornados shredded the ground and also sucked the air around Neji. Neji couldn't breathe. His Byakugan momentarily deactivated and that lapse was all Naruto needed to land a decisive blow. It was the same blow that Naruto had used to defeat Neji eight years ago in the Chuunin Exam. A clone had dug itself into the ground and shot out from under Neji's feet with its palm stretched out towards his chin. The clone's palm connected and it threw back Neji's head, lifting him off the ground. Neji's vision swirled, but somehow he had managed to keep the Asura from disappearing.

"I heard that you were one of the most feared in Konoha," Naruto said. "What is this? The actual me haven't lifted a finger, yet, but you are already on the ground."

"Wake up, Naruto. What you're doing is wrong," Neji muttered through his bloody mouth.

"So you're saying that you're not doing this seriously."

"No. I'm using everything I have. If you just want to know if you're the strongest, you are. Stop this. Please don't let my admiration for you disappear."

Naruto laughed. "You admired me? This is funny. I didn't know that."

"Please, Naruto." Neji coughed up blood.

"All right. I know what you want. I'll do the finishing blow myself." Naruto raised his hands up and formed a Rasengan in each. "Now let's see how you would cope being a cripple." He walked towards Neji with brutal slowness to make Neji realize his impending defeat. Naruto was enjoying this very much. "Say goodbye to your precious Jyuuken."

Naruto lifted the Rasengans and launched them down towards Neji's hands, but suddenly he stopped. The Rasengans vanished and he clawed something in his throat even though nothing was there. His face was straining, veins emerged from his skin, and he choked. He began to break some sweat.

The real Naruto had managed to put a chain around the evil Naruto's neck. Now he was pulling the evil Naruto towards the sacred cell. The chain rubbed against the bars, creating a maddening clink-clink-clink that echoed like death through the darkness. The Demon Fox was trying to cut the chain by its teeth, but the chain was tough. Realizing this, the Demon Fox could only growl at the real Naruto.

"You dipshit! Let go of me!" evil Naruto demanded, his voice raspy from the pressure on his throat.

"I'll never let you go on. This is enough," Naruto said.

"If you kill me, you'll die too, stupid!"

"I don't care. Neji! Stand up!"

"What is happening?" Neji said. He tried to push himself up.

"Neji! Now's your chance!" Naruto said. "Kill me!"

"What?"

"Just do it before it's too late!"

"But—"

"Stand up, now! I can't hold this anymore!"

Neji tried but pain shot through his senses. He fell back. "Shit!" he muttered. He looked up at his Asura. The Jyuuken chakra god was limp. He needed to activate his Byakugan. He sipped in air and yelled, "Byakugan!" The veins on his temples erupted. It was painful, but he ignored it. He tried to take control of Asura. The act proved itself almost impossible in his condition. The Asura was very heavy.

"Neji! What are you doing?" Naruto said. "Stand up!"

"Asura!" Neji clenched his teeth. The Asura moved. "That's it." To Naruto, he said, "Forgive me, Naruto. Jyuuken: Eight Trigrams Seven Hundred Sixty Eight Palms Demolition Strikes!"

"You fuck! Do you think I will just stand here and let you do that?" Evil Naruto made thirty-two seals in only two seconds. "Forbidden Technique: Unseal! Demon Fox's Seal Invalidation!"

Real Naruto's eyes widened. "No!"

"You take care of everything, now, Demon Fox," Evil Naruto said.

Real Naruto pulled at the chain and evil Naruto let himself be pulled. Evil Naruto hit the sacred cell. Electricity attacked his body. He screamed. "I'll never forget this, you stupid shit! Don't think that this is your win, yet!" Evil Naruto disintegrated into dust of light and was gone.

Real Naruto tried to reverse the unsealing, but he couldn't. He was weak and it was already too late.

A large red hand swiped Neji's Asura away before its attack could land a finger.

…

Kakashi couldn't believe his eyes. "It's the Demon Fox," he muttered.

"How…" Tenten put her hand over her mouth.

"Lee and Neji are in danger," Sasuke said. "I'll go there."

"Stop," Kakashi said. "I'll go. You support the monks with Susanoo. We know how powerful the Demon Fox's black ball is. The villagers' safety is our priority. Tenten, let's go."

Kakashi could clearly see the hideous face of the Demon Fox even from a distance. As he and Tenten leaped off from roof to roof, he looked around to see if the evacuation had been completed in areas outside the monks' barrier. All he saw were the confused and frightened faces of the Jonins who had been posted around. Suddenly, he felt his skin prickle. He jerked his head towards the Demon Fox. His eyes widened when he saw a black ball materializing from the Demon Fox's mouth. The black ball grew and grew until it was larger than Demon Fox's own body. Kakashi knew it was too late.

"Get out of the ball's way!" Kakashi yelled at the Jonins.

The Demon Fox launched the large black ball towards the fleeing villagers. It cruised over the houses and pried the roofs away. It reached and hit the monks' barrier, bounced back, and created an explosion that destroyed everything in the east of the Konoha gate. Every house and structure in the area was turned into nothing.

The monks continued their chanting, blending their voices into one. The invisible barrier they made and maintained separated the village in two halves. Everything outside the barrier was doomed to be destroyed.

The Demon Fox launched another black ball. Sasuke, knowing that the barrier would not last if a powerful ball of dark chakra would hit it repeatedly, summoned his Susanoo. The giant chakra monster with the body of an oversized human skeleton and a bull's skull stood up behind Sasuke. Susanoo sliced the ball in half with its sword. The halves flew in opposite directions and made large explosions. Susanoo snarled at the Demon Fox.

The Demon Fox began running for the village. It crashed its massive body into the gate, destroying it into concrete and wooden debris. The Jonins started attacking it with a variety of Ninjutsu ranging from fire releases to water releases. It was not affected by any of the attacks. It whipped around its tails and slashed with its claws at the Jonins. It destroyed everything near its paws and mouth. The Demon Fox was destroying everything.

Naruto shot threads of chakra from his hands and feet to try to control the Demon Fox's movements. When the Demon Fox was about to bite off the head of a Jonin, it suddenly stopped. Blood rushed up Naruto's throat from the damage the feat had dealt inside his body. He was stubbornly holding the Demon Fox down.

Out of nowhere, wooden ropes sprouted from the ground and crept around the Demon Fox's body. Yamato was doing it.

"Yamato!" Kakashi blurted out. He went beside his Jonin friend.

"What the fuck is going on? Why is the Demon Fox outside?" Yamato stared inquiringly at Kakashi. "Don't tell me Naruto did this."

"Yes. We were just fortunate you came on time."

"Where is Naruto?" Ino said. She, Hinata, Shino, and Yamato had just arrived from a mission.

"He's inside the Demon Fox."

"Seal it!" Yamato ordered. "We don't have time for useless chat!"

Kakashi whistled for reinforcements. Jonins squatted around the Demon Fox and started to draw circles in front of them.

"This will take time, Yamato. Can you hold it until we're finished?"

"I'll try. Get going!"

Kakashi sat on the ground and drew a circle himself.

…

Tsunade was watching the scene from the balcony of the hospital. She clenched her fists at her sides, praying that everything would be okay. She was still not fit to fight because she had lost too much chakra in reviving Sakura.

"Master Tsunade," a weak voice said behind her.

She turned around and saw Sakura trying to get up from bed. "What are you doing?"

"Take me to Naruto."

Tsunade went to Sakura and tried pushing her back to bed. "No. You will not be of any help to them."

"Please. I remembered everything. He has to know. I believe he would stop if I told him."

"It's already too late. The Demon Fox has gone outside Naruto's body."

"I know he can still hear me. Please, sensei, bring me to him."

Tsunade stared at Sakura for a long time. And then she said, "Okay."

…

Sasuke tried to attack with Susanoo, but the Demon Fox thwarted it with a medium-sized black ball. Susanoo instantly broke into shards and disappeared. Not giving up yet, Sasuke unsheathed his katana and wrapped its blade with Hell's Fire Amaterasu. However, upon contact, needles of red chakra pierced his body. The needles' force threw him away.

Yamato felt the raw power of the Demon Fox pulling at every sinew in his body. It was difficult to keep his hands together for the Bull hand seal of his Wood Release Technique. He could also see that the wooden ropes were beginning to give in. "Faster, Kakashi! I can't hold it much longer!"

Shino tried to use his bugs to suck the massive quantity of chakra out of the Demon Fox. At first he thought that he was succeeding with it. However, the Demon Fox growled and the killer bugs burned to death.

"It's very strong," Shino said.

"I'll try to get into his mind," Ino said.

"No. Naruto is currently inside a massive clump of hatred. You will not be able to help. You'll only lose your mind."

"But—"

"Naruto is doing everything now to hold the Demon Fox down. All we can do is trust in him and the sealers."

Reluctantly, Ino nodded.

Tsunade supported Sakura as they walked towards the Demon Fox. When they were out of the barrier, Tsunade let go of Sakura.

"Naruto, listen to me!" Sakura yelled.

The Demon Fox looked ahead and saw her. Naruto grew afraid when he saw Sakura yelling in his direction.

"Get away from here! Run away!" Naruto yelled back. "Sakura, run away!"

The Demon Fox felt the slight loosening of Naruto's threads. It surged forward and broke a number of wooden ropes around its hind legs.

"Shit! What is happening?" Yamato said.

The Demon Fox surged again. Now a number of ropes around its front limbs broke.

"Naruto, I remembered everything!" Sakura continued. "Nothing had happened between me and Sasuke! He stopped me! Please, come back! I'll never give myself to anyone but you! Naruto, you're the one I love!"

"Too late!" The Demon Fox said. "Too late for reconciliation."

The Demon Fox surged forward. Yamato's arms erupted. The Demon Fox freed itself and leaped up towards Sakura. "Now die, bitch!"

The surroundings slowed down as adrenaline shot through everyone's blood vessels and lend them extraordinary keenness of senses. Every Jonin threw a weapon since no one had the time for Ninjutsu. Kunais, shurikens, staffs, spears, and swords went flying towards the Demon Fox. Sakura stood frozen on her feet.

Naruto opened all his chakra gates. A large quantity of chakra chains gushed out from his body and shot towards the dark walls. Naruto heaved and pulled the walls towards him.

The Demon Fox screamed. "What are you doing?" Naruto pulled again. "Stop!"

Naruto succeeded. The Demon Fox appeared in front of him, chains around its large body. Naruto wound the chains extending from his body around his left hand and with his right hand created a small orb of light. "Soul Release: Bridge of Conscience!" The orb shot through the Demon Fox. Naruto pulled at the string of light and the chains of chakra. With a heave and a loud cry he pulled apart the pure chakra of the Demon Fox and its inherent hatred. "Lock!" A huge hand with thick, black claws, and blue scales grabbed the Demon Fox's hatred and pulled him into an abyss, never to be let out again. Naruto regained control of his body.

The Demon Fox disappeared and Naruto reappeared in midair. The fear the Jonins had felt earlier for Sakura all of a sudden changed direction. They tried to stop the impending but inevitable result. But it was too late. The kunais, shurikens, staffs, spears, and swords impaled Naruto's body ruthlessly and a rain of blood fell on the ground. Naruto looked like a cushion full of pins. He crashed on the ground on his knees seemingly without any life remaining in him. But he looked up at Sakura with tears of admission in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he managed to say. He bowed his head and it was all over.

…

"I told you. Your softness will never take you anywhere," evil Naruto said. They were in a white washed place where the rays of the sun intruded from the heavens.

"Where did your darkness take you then?"

"Hmph! If you didn't stop me, I could have made you famous."

"Would that have made you happy?"

Evil Naruto regressed into a fifteen year old boy. "Don't you get tired of people being fickle around you? They only notice you when you did something amazing. Did you think they would have been nice to you if you didn't defeat Pain?"

"It's not important how they behave towards me as long as they do no harm to anyone. I didn't even expect gratitude from them after I defeated Pain. All I want is for everyone not to experience everything that I've been through."

Evil Naruto regressed into a twelve year old boy. "Everyone is making a fool out of you. They embarrass you in public. They laugh at you. They don't even want your help because they believe you're an idiot. Even Sakura avoids to be seen with you as if you're a sore."

"I believe in myself. As long as I do, people's opinions don't matter to me."

Evil Naruto regressed into a five year old kid. "They are mad at you. Why are they mad at you? Did you do something wrong?"

Naruto knelt down in front of the kid and hugged him. "It's over now. Everything has changed."

"Really?"

"Yes. We have friends now. Believe in me."

Five year old Naruto smiled. It was the warmest smile Naruto had ever seen. "Okay. Bye-bye."

Naruto stood up and he began to vanish. "Grow well, little one."

…

Three years had passed after the incident with the Demon Fox. It became a global legend not because of its terribleness, but because on that night, miraculously, nobody died. It is still a subject of curiosity for battle analysts up until now. Yumi Natsuna was sentenced to life in prison after she was proven guilty of treason. She shouldered the cost of the reconstruction of damages in Konoha. A trial never occurred since she admitted everything and refused to defend herself. Naruto was treated as a victim and no charges were pressed against him.

Shikamaru got his tongue back. Fortunately, his family had been in possession of Ares, the Flower of the Wind. When his mother brought the powdered flower to him, he cried and appreciated his mother like he had never done before.

Shizune had many suspicious visits to Naruto while he was still in the hospital. Sakura dismissed these as friendly, but as time passed, she grew unhappy with them. She couldn't contain her curiosity anymore when Shizune started visiting three times a day.

"Why do you care so much for Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"That man is important to me," Shizune said. "As important as you think he is to you."

"Could you be honest with me?"

"I'll try."

"Did something happen between you two?"

Shizune shook his head and smiled wistfully. "Almost." With that she left.

After six months of intensive care, Naruto's wounds healed perfectly. However, before he was released from the hospital, Ino came by and proposed that Naruto should be subjected to psychological therapy. Naruto had never been himself ever since the unfortunate incident. He acted like a child. He only called Sakura the kind onee-chan and the male ones he called onii-chan. After Ino had gone inside Naruto's mind, she had only bad news.

"His memory frames are blank. I can't find him anywhere," Ino said. "I'm sorry, Sakura."

Because of that, Tsunade decided not to release Naruto.

One day while Sakura was sleeping beside Naruto's bed, she was woken up by a deep voice.

"Sakura, wake up," said the voice. "I'll take you to where he is."

"Who are you?" Sakura said.

"I'm the Kyubi."

Sakura abruptly stood up. "What do you want? Are you here to take Naruto?"

"No. I'm not the Kyubi that you knew of. I'm the pure chakra of Kyubi inside Naruto. I'm here to take you to where he is. Could you trust me?"

Sakura thought for a while. Then she said, "Take me to him. I want to see him."

"Enter his mind. I'll guide you."

Sakura did. The Kyubi's form was that of a beautiful woman with jet-black hair. She was wearing a priestess' robe.

"Are you surprised?" The woman giggled. "This is my appearance when I was still human. I'm Akane."

"You're so pretty." Sakura smiled as she admired the beautiful woman in front of her.

"Thank you. Take my hand. I'll take you to where he is."

Once Sakura touched Akane's hand, the scenery went past in a blinding speed around them. They entered a tunnel and arrived at a field of radiant green grass. Under a tree on a low hill slept a handsome child of five. His golden hair reflected the sun.

Sakura couldn't take her eyes away from the boy. "Is he…is he Naruto?"

Akane nodded. "He is. Come on." They went in front of the sleeping child. "Adorable, isn't he?"

Sakura couldn't stop her tears from flowing. She covered her mouth with her hands. "Naruto…"

Slowly, the handsome child opened his eyes. He made a cute motion of rubbing his eyes and yawning out his small mouth. He blinked and focused on the faces in front of him. When he saw Sakura, he stood up, afraid, and hid behind the tree. His voice was clear and crisp when he said, "Akane-onee-chan! Who is with you? Is she here to scold me? I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Sakura shot Akane a glance asking why. Akane mouthed, "Don't worry."

Akane went behind the tree. Sakura heard them talking. After a while, Akane walked to Sakura holding Naruto's hand. "Sakura, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is your Sakura-onee-chan. She is my friend."

Naruto grinned. Sakura couldn't help but gasp. Was this gorgeous child really Naruto?

"Good morning, Sakura-onee-chan! I'm sorry I did that. The grown-ups when they see me, they always lash out on me without reason, so I run away when I see them. I thought you were one of them."

Sakura shook her head. "No. I will not do that." She glanced up at Akane. "Naruto-chan, could you…could you give me a hug?"

Young Naruto blushed and glanced at Akane asking if that was okay. Akane nodded. "I haven't had a bath, yet, Sakura-onee-chan."

"It's okay." She spread her arms. "Come here."

Naruto glanced up again at Akane.

"Go on," Akane said. "She'll not eat you. She smells nice, too."

Naruto smiled, confident now. He ran into Sakura's arms and hugged her with all the might his small arms could give. Sakura could smell the sun on his hair and skin. She could feel the softness of his body, his warmth. She could never exchange the feeling for anything. She hugged him for a very long time.

Sakura played with Naruto on the grass like mother to her child. Giggles and small screams filled the air when Sakura caught Naruto and tickled his sides. They rolled on the ground. They splashed water at each other in the stream. Naruto created a crown made from wild flowers for Sakura, which Sakura accepted regally like a queen. They played for hours until Naruto's eyes drooped and he yawned for two seconds.

Sakura asked, "Are you sleepy?" Naruto nodded. She crouched down, her back on him. "I'll give you a ride to the tree."

Naruto's small mouth curled into a smile. He got onto Sakura's back and laid his head there. In no time, he fell asleep.

Sakura was now sitting beside Akane under the shade of the tree. Naruto was on her lap, sucking his thumb. "Thank you for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

"Akane-san, do you think he has still a chance to return to his old self again?"

"I don't know about that." Akane paused for a while. "Do you want to know how Naruto lost himself?"

"Do you know how?"

Akane nodded. "When he tamed me the first time, he only succeeded in accepting the negative feelings that he remembered. Not like Bee-san of the Eight-Tentacled Bull, who tamed his parasite when he was still young, Naruto attempted to tame me when he was fifteen. There were so many negative feelings that he had acquired when he was a child, but he had already forgotten about by then.

"I hated my existence and the existence of the world. Before I became a chunk of hatred, my original goal was to destroy this happy place human had learned to live in. I would do everything for that goal whether I was confined in someone or was free to roam the grounds. The first time he tamed me, I still had confidence that I could regain my old hatred. That confidence was coming from the fact that Naruto hadn't still faced and accepted the hatred, fear, and despair he had experienced when he was a child, which he had already forgotten. It was still there inside his subconscious mind, just waiting for a fuse to light it up into action. My chance came when his heart was broken and a feeling similar to the lurking dark feelings inside his subconscious mind presented themselves and triggered those old subconscious memories back to life. His dark personality as a child was resurrected—the self-pitying, distrustful, and unhappy Naruto he had been before he found himself some friends."

"Is that why he chose to be a child again?"

"I don't know. Maybe he couldn't accept the fact that he hurt many of his friends. Maybe he wanted to have the simple mind of a child to avoid the pain of guilt."

After that conversation, the Kyubi didn't appear before her again. She tried calling out her name, but there wasn't' any reply. She awfully missed the young Naruto.

Sakura dedicated herself in taking care of Naruto. Time passed by unnoticed and many changes occurred in Konoha. Shizune finally accepted a marriage proposal. They were both invited and they came to the wedding day. When it was time for the exchange of vows, Shizune looked in the direction of Naruto. The priest turned to her, signaling that it was her turn to say her vow. Shizune suddenly stood up, ran to Naruto, and kissed his lips. She bowed in front of the guests and apologized before running off. She resigned as Tsunade's assistant and was now in the Capital City studying Advanced Medical Techniques.

A week after that incident, Ino had a talk with Sakura. Ino finally confessed her feelings for Naruto.

"Huh? You love him?" Sakura blurted out. "Since when?"

"Do you remember the day Sai told you that Naruto might have been in love with you for a long time? I thought about that for days. I was jealous. I didn't know when it actually began, but by that time I knew I had already fallen in love with him."

"This is not funny, Ino. Not him, too."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. The reason I always keep myself beautiful is because I want him to notice me. Sakura, I'll never give up on him. If you really love him, convince me that you can make him happy. If you don't, I'll snatch him from you."

Sakura shook her head and smiled longingly. "We had the same crushes when we were little. Now we love the same person, too. Could it be that we were also fated to have the same husbands?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" And Ino laughed and cried at the same time. "If I could put up with the jealousy, I could accept that kind of arrangement. But, sorry, I can't. I'm only human."

Two years after the incident, while Sakura fed Naruto his lunch, an unexpected guest dropped by. It was Yumi Natsuna. She was still as pretty as before, but her conduct was not that of a queen anymore. She was handcuffed. Sakura was surprised after opening for Yumi.

"What are you doing here? You should be in prison," Sakura said, seething.

"I'm sorry. I asked permission from Master Tsunade to talk with you."

"There is nothing to talk about. Leave before I lose myself."

"I'm here to tell you that my family in Amegakure has succeeded in extracting the Oil of Auras. You know it right? With proper administration, it can cure mind problems. Sakura, my father is a Psyche Miester. He knows how to bring Naruto back. Please trust me. Sakura, I love him, too. I don't want him to be a child forever. I'm just trying to help."

"Are you…are you telling the truth?"

"I am. Trust me."

"I'll talk with Master Tsunade about this. Now, leave."

"Before I go, Sakura…" she gulped, "…may I see Naruto-kun?"

Sakura considered Yumi. She felt sympathy when the older woman craned her neck to have a glimpse at Naruto. "Okay. Come inside."

Yumi brightened up. "Thank you very much!"

Sakura led Yumi to the table. Yumi was already crying when they reached Naruto. Naruto expectantly looked up.

"Sakura-onee-chan, who is she?" Naruto asked.

"She's a friend," Sakura said.

Yumi smiled sadly at him. "Hi, baby, how are you?"

"I'm fine, onee-chan! Would you stay to play?"

"I'm sorry. I have a lot of things to do."

"Oh, that's so bad. Here, just take a bite. Sakura-onee-chan cooks so well!" Naruto scooped up a spoonful of rice and curry.

Yumi leaned down and accepted the spoon in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed. "That's good."

"See?"

"Could you give onee-chan a hug, Naruto-kun?"

"What? We didn't agree about a hug—" Sakura was saying, but Naruto was already on his feet. He hugged Yumi.

Yumi's tears drenched his shoulders. She whispered, "I'm sorry you have to go through all of this."

"That's okay!" Naruto grabbed Yumi's face and gave her a loud kiss on the mouth. Sakura gaped in shock. Yumi gaped in confusion. "That's for you so that you'll not cry anymore. You're very pretty onee-chan. You should not cry because you will look old."

Yumi smiled. "Yes. Of course. Onee-chan will stop crying now."

"Sakura-onee-chan always does that to me when I have nightmares or I'm hurt."

Sakura blushed. "Naruto, finish your lunch now. It's getting cold." Naruto did. Sakura pulled Yumi by the elbow, steering her towards the door. Yumi gave her a malicious look. She blushed deeper. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Yumi smiled. "Nothing. Take care of him."

"You don't need to tell me that."

Tsunade told Sakura that Naruto would be brought to Amegakure for the therapy. After a week of preparation, Toshio Natsuna, the Psyche Miester himself, fetched Naruto. Naruto stayed for a year in Amegakure.

…

Now, Sakura was standing in front of the gate, waiting for him. A letter had come yesterday, telling her that Naruto would be arriving today. She had been waiting ever since seven this morning. It had been four hours already. She was growing anxious. Her hair, which she had let to grow long again, swayed in the wind.

"Haruno-san, who are you waiting for? You have been standing there ever since early this morning," the Jonin guard said.

"No one special." She hadn't told anyone about the letter.

"You wait for whomever coming like that and you'll say no one special. I won't buy that."

Sakura shrugged. "It's a surprise."

The Jonin nodded knowingly. "Oh, so that's it. A surprise."

"Yup." She beamed at the Jonin.

After another thirty minutes, a couch stopped in front of the gate. A tall man with long golden hair tied in a pony tail got off from it. The couch left without entering the gate. Sakura's heart raced.

"Naruto?"

The handsome man smiled. "Sakura-onee-chan!"

Her heart sank after hearing that. "Don't you still remember me?"

Naruto ran towards her. "I missed you, Sakura-onee-chan!"

"Naruto?" She was about to cry.

Naruto suddenly grabbed her face and kissed her. The kiss was adult. He smiled at her. "Of course, I remember you. You look beautiful."

Sakura suppressed the tears in her eyes and tried to smile. "You really think so?"

"Yeah. Your long hair suits you."

"I missed you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled. He leaned to kiss her. "I missed you, too. Oh, yeah, before I forget, I have something to give you." He produced a silver ring. "I love you, Sakura. I'm sorry I had been a jerk in the past. Would you accept this ring as a sign that you have already forgiven me?"

Now, Sakura couldn't stop the tears. She offered him her hand and Naruto put the ring on her left ring finger. Sakura hugged him for a very long time. "I thought I would never see you again. I thought I already lost you. I will never hurt you again. I promise you that you will always be the only one for me."

"You didn't do something wrong. Everything has been explained to me."

"I love you, Naruto."

"So, it's Naruto-sensei, eh?" The Jonin guard said. "Hey, everyone, Naruto-sensei is back! Everyone!" To Sakura, he said, "I will not let you hog Naruto-sensei for yourself! Everyone!"

Naruto smiled. He nodded at Sakura. When Sakura smiled back, he swept her off her feet and leapt off.

The Jonin guard smiled at them. "It's so good to be young."

THE END

Author's Note: The Consciousness Trespass here is a name I coined for the technique used by Ino's father in the manga. I forgot the actual name and in what chapter that was. It was in the Pain Arc where Ino's father was trying to know Pain's location by going inside the mind of one of Pain's zombies. I borrowed the concept of memory bank as rooms with signs inside the mind from Hannibal Rising of Thomas Harris. To those who are curious about the names of the legendary flowers, here they are: the Flower of the Ice is called Polaris, the Flower of the Wind is Ares, the Flower of the Earth is Hades, and the Flower of the Flame is Auras. Thank you for reading and reviewing. You gave me courage to continue and finish this story up. To those who sent flames, I understand that this story is not of your taste. I wrote this story because I was intrigued with the latest chapters of Naruto where he was training to control the chakra of the Kyubi. I was intrigued too when the dark Naruto appeared and how Naruto handled him. I thought _what if he somehow made a mistake and the dark Naruto reemerged in the future?_ That's the premise I used as the story's foundation. Thank you very much. I hope you also read, review, and comment on my future works.


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